Outdoor event entertainment used to be a relatively simple affair. Whether a kid’s birthday, a craft show, or a local social group’s annual gala, organizers had clear options and they were able to put together solid events without much assistance. Today, however, so many businesses and organizations are competing to arrange the most boisterous, most entertaining, and most talked-about events that finding out what works and what doesn’t, what people respond to and what they shrug off, can be a matter of life-or-death for event organizers. Spend too much on things that people don’t like and that buzzed-about picnic lunch can go from a great investment to a total waste. Book the wrong entertainment and what was supposed to be the most amazing birthday party for your child will be an unmitigated disaster.

Among larger event organizers, there are some pretty reliable options that can generally keep the kids entertained at relatively low cost. The most common is having one or a number of “jump castles,” colorful inflatable play spaces in which kids can run around, bounce, jump, and play games. Another is a so-called “zero-gravity” machine, a large contraption that allows people to strap in and experience the sensation of weightlessness by jumping, bouncing, and flipping to extreme heights. To our knowledge no “compare and contrast” of these two has been done, so for the benefit of everyone struggling to decide what to book for their next event, we’re going to run down the basics on these different approaches and see what makes each of them a unique choice.

Jump castles have been around for a while now, so the practice of having one for an outdoor event is widespread and widely understood. Someone comes over, blows the thing up, the kids run around for a while, and then it’s deflated and taken back. Yet while the activity is pretty uniform, jump castles are a wonderfully diverse category of entertainment. There are jump castles with princess themes, Spiderman themes, old-time train themes: name something that kids like, and somewhere out there is a bright shiny jump castle you can rent to indulge the little ones’ favorite fad. This visual stimulation is great for young kids, and the interactive environment is good for games and socializing, but jump castles have their share of drawbacks, too.

That same socializing aspect that we say can be a benefit can also be a problem: the castles get crowded, and with more people there are more arms flailing, more legs kicking, more fingers poking, and more heads bouncing around, which can be a recipe for complete disaster. One kid jumps at a funny angle and all of a sudden you have a pile of bumps, bruises, and tears that’s just begging for some overprotective parent to have a freak out. Not pretty.

So safety can be an issue. Though you would imagine these things would require some certified adult supervision, part of the trouble with jump castles being so common is that it is not always certain that the 17-year old who was sent to set it up is qualified to monitor nine kids bouncing around simultaneously. And the fact that most adults really can’t (or shouldn’t) use the castles because of size and weight issues means that the age restrictions cut both ways: the youngest children can’t use it because there are no adults to guard them while they play.

Zero-gravity machines are a different kind of entertainment, and since they’re far less common it makes sense to explain how they’re used. These machines are set up in a relatively large space, and each one has a number of stations extending from it, complete with harnessing, into which a person is secured. Once harnessed in, the users experience near-weightlessness as they hang from the bowed, springy extensions, free to jump up and down on large launching pads that help them reach incredible heights in relative freedom. Buoyed against their own weight, the users are able to jump to massive heights or execute aerial acrobatics like something out of Cirque du Soleil, all while safely strapped into the machine.      

Unlike jump castles, zero-gravity machines are basically a solo activity, and so the ability to socialize is limited. There are multiple stations so you can have more than one person using it at a time, but of course the pace is still going to be slower than a jump castle. While that does make it less social than jump castles it greatly decreases the likelihood of injury. Similarly, since users can move about as they please in a jump castle and they’re strapped into a zero-gravity machine, there is also a trade-off between decreased freedom and increased safety. Some people would say being alone makes it easier to experience what the machine can do since you don’t have to worry about others or their safety while you are using it.

Age restrictions are somewhat less of an issue with the zero-gravity machine as adults and children can be safely strapped in, and though very young children probably don’t have the motor skills and larger adults may not fit or may weigh too much, the range of ages that can use the zero-gravity machine is greater than those who can use the jump castle. Related to this somewhat older skewing of those using the zero-gravity machine, there is not going to be the same kind of visual fun for the kids that a themed jump castle brings, though the sight of mommy and daddy flipping around 15 feet in the air may be entertainment enough. And that is part of the consideration as well: if you’re booking entertainment not just for kids but for lots of different people, the zero-gravity machine is definitely the way to go.

The experience of using the zero-gravity machine is what really gives it the edge, since it’s hard for a jump castle to emulate the view you get or the feeling of flying you experience when you’re using it. Of course this is tempered somewhat by some of the drawbacks of the machine. It certainly takes up a much greater space than the jump castle, which can limit the venues at which you can roll it out. It easily fits a roughly 50’ x 50’ space, so without at least that much space to use it may be better to either change venues or book some other entertainment. Also, since these machines must be professionally staffed by two people the increased safety will most likely mean an increased cost, though that depends on your market.

Overall these two kinds of event entertainment have their pros and cons, and each is able to take advantage of its core strengths to provide good value to event organizers, whether your event is a birthday party with 50 people or a large festival with 5,000 people. If you’re on the fence your biggest considerations should be the ages of the people you’re entertaining and the size of the venue, but all things considered equal we’ll take weightless mid-air flipping over a bouncy game of tag any day.

Last year I posted what my resolutions were for the year. I feel like I did make progress on them, but they were not completed. I think this year I need to make a few of the goals a little more concrete as well as make sure they are incorporated into my GTD horizon planning.

Here is a quick review of how I did on the goals I posted last year…

1. More time for family – Last year I promised that I would not miss out on any birthday parties, family events or small get-togethers unless there is a dire emergency that requires my attention. I feel like I did pretty good with this goal. I think the only area that I neglected was some of my friends. I feel like I did skip quite a few “going out” nights with friends, but I did make most of the family events and birthday parties. I also made time for a few trips out of town with the girls which were tons of fun. Additionally, I was able to help with taking Miranda to softball lessons and other events which I don’t think I would have made appropriate time for previously.
2. Get my home businesses moving – This resolution ended up being adjusted mid-year. We did focus on the home businesses quite a bit, but from discussions with mentors as well as reading some new books I decided that it was not a good idea to focus so heavily on these for now. I needed to find a business that would allow both Maria and I to do things we are already good at, rather than focusing on learning new skills at this point.
   
   To support this I’ve been helping a friend get his software development company going which aligns with my skills. Additionally, Maria and I have started Atrevete! which aligns very well with her skills. From a financial perspective we are probably in a similar position to where we were this time last year, but we’ve got a better handle on where we’re going which feels great.
3. Drop 15 pounds – I did ok on this goal at the beginning of the year, but in June when I began implementing the Getting Things Done methodology and properly tracking my progress I realized that I was way behind where I wanted to be. I have been able to keep myself at about 190 pounds which is only about 5 pounds short of my goal. It feels great to have gotten into an exercise habit which also gives me time to listen to lots of podcasts and learn plenty of new things.
   
   Getting this exercise plan in place has also helped me to realize that I was gaining most of my weight through alcohol. Sometime in late July I got a really bad gout attack and decided to see if the attacks were related to the alcohol. I pretty much stopped drinking at that point. Since then I’ve only had drinks on special occasions and have been doing a decent job of keeping those to only a drink or two. I plan to continue this pattern during 2010 as well.
4. Increase my Spanish skills – I was pretty vague about this goal and my current Spanish skills support that comment as well. I did take a Spanish class for a few weeks, but the timing was terrible and I ended up having to stop it. I have been practicing using Rosetta stone a little bit as well as listening to a Spanish podcast. Since we’ve been in Mexico for the last week I’ve definitely noticed that I understand quite a bit more than before and I’m able to have small conversations here and there. I definitely need to continue practicing and try to get more fluent…

Now I have to spend some time figuring out what I want to accomplish for 2010…

As many of you may already know I am an avid social network user.  I have my cell phone and instant messenger programs connected so I can quickly type a short blurb and have my statuses, tweets, and profiles all updated in a few quick seconds.  I tend to lean toward sending an answer to “What are you doing now?” for most of my updates.  

A month or two ago I sent what I thought was an innocent status update.  “Working like crazy to get lots of things done before I head home from the office…” One of my co-workers caught this on Yammer and soon replied with a link to Wikipedia and told me that maybe this would help.  It certainly has.

After reading the book and doing a little research online I decided I needed to try to implement this system for myself.  Being the nerd that I am, I could not see using paper, file folders and desk drawers.  I needed to be completely mobile enabled.  I have implemented GTD this way:

2 Day mind sweep / gathering – I began by going through my house with a notepad and just listing everything around the house that I wanted to do.  After this I headed to my office and did the same.  Next was my personal e-mail box. 

Turned off Outlook notifications – One thing that I realized through this was that Outlook was seriously distracting me.  Even when I was doing the gathering exercise above I continued to be distracted with new items.  I turned off the sounds, pop-up notifications and tray notifications so that I have to manually open outlook and click my inbox to be able to see new messages. 

MyLifeOrganized – I found this great program which allows me to keep ALL of my projects and tasks organized by context, synchronized between computers as well as my cell phone.  This definitely satisfied my nerdy side.

Weekly 2 hour review – I honestly thought David Allen was crazy when he suggested that you set aside at least 2-3 hours each week to regroup on everything.  I believe what he suggests is actually too little time for most people.  I blocked off 2 hours every Friday afternoon to review everything and prepare for the weekend.  I constantly find myself running out of time or needing some extra time for this on Saturdays.  You should definitely take this seriously and make sure you have proper time to review.  It will pay off big time!

David Allen describes a nagging feeling that’s always in the back of your mind when you don’t get it all out of your head.  I can definitely identify with that.  Since using this methodology I definitely feel that I am more in control of my destiny.  Each day I feel that the things that are most important are moving forward.  I’m even receiving compliments from friends, family and co-workers that I seem to be more on the ball lately.

Personally, I love that all of my inboxes are clean and I can keep my desk much neater.   Turning off notifications in my Outlook has allowed me to focus better and not be distracted by all of those electronic interruptions.  It’s great to be confident that if I tell someone I will do something for them, it will get done.  It may not be this moment, but I will eventually get to it.

I am definitely an infant when compared to folks that have used this methodology for years, but I know that with practice I will eventually get to the “mind like water” state that’s described in the book.  The areas that seem to trip me up so far are fairly minor.  Many times I look at my list of tasks and still feel a little overwhelmed by the length of the list.  My natural tendency is to want to clear the entire list.  This is definitely not possible and sometimes that causes me to need to remind myself just to focus on what’s most important.

Initially I had a difficult time making sure my list was updated whenever I got a call or e-mail.  I would need to spend a large portion of my weekly review time looking at my sent items and call histories to remind myself of which items needed to be added to my “Waiting For” list as well as adding follow up calls to my list.

All-in-all I’m extremely happy with the results of implementing this methodology and I look forward to continually growing in this area to the point where I can help guide and mentor others so they can reap the same rewards.

Are you contemplating starting your own home business? Are you already involved in one, but aren’t having the success you had expected?

Have you seriously considered the reason “why” you wanted to start in the first place? There are many reasons to start a business from home, but If your why is big enough then the how becomes easy.  You can always use your why to keep you motivated during tough times.

When I started my business, I had a solid J.O.B., but was intent on helping my girlfriend pay down her credit card debt and help her to require less work hours as well as have more time with her daughter and me.  For me this is a good enough reason to put many hours a week into my home business, but for you it might require something stronger.

What is your passion in life?

What do you dream about?

What keeps you up at night?

Do you want to be a full-time parent?

Do you want to do volunteer work?

Maybe you have a loved one that is in need!

Or you’d like to go to college?

Perhaps build your dream house or travel the world!

If money were no object, what would you do? Where would you go? What would you become?

Take a piece, or two, of paper out and answer these questions with your spouse or significant other. Really search your heart! Don’t take the easy road and say, “To make more money.” That is generally the outcome people in business are working toward, but it is really a means to an end. Get specific – be outrageous – but mostly, be honest and real with yourself, because unless you are just stubborn, you aren’t likely to succeed in a home-based business if you don’t have a “why” that gives you immediate pause.

Your “why” must be a strong enough incentive to get up early or stay working late even thought there is no boss to dock your pay. It must be clear enough for you to keep up with the daily tasks you may not enjoy. You need to be passionate enough about your dreams, your goals, your objectives, that when you are struggling, you’ll be able to push through the pain, because your “why” is that worth it.  The phone may feel like its 1,000lbs before a call to a prospect if you don’t know “why”.

Once you’ve got your “why” clearly pictured in your head you need to write it down in a few sentences and make sure you keep it in plain sight at all times!

As always if you’re stuck trying to come up with your “why” please get a hold of me and I’ll be happy to help any way I can.

I personally find that one of the hardest things to handle with my own home business is ensuring that I’m working on the right things.  It’s very easy to get caught up in all of the many angles of your business and find your day completely gone. 

What makes you money in your business?   Organizing your desk doesn’t! 

You don’t want to become a professional meeting attendee either, so you need to make sure you’re doing something EVERY day that’s building your business.

Obviously you need to be sure that these tasks are properly aligned to your goals, availability and skills, but we’ll talk about that another time.

Make a time commitment and stick to it EVERY day!

What we’re going to talk about here is how to get yourself organized so you can easily keep your business growing!

This is an extremely simple process:

List everything in your business that will actually make you money.  For example…

• New customers – 1 point
• New representative Sign-up – 2 points
• Successful Home meeting (3 or more attendees)– 5 points
• New guest at a weekly group meeting – 2 points
• Registration for national company events – 1 point
• 3 way calls – 1 point
• Track how many of these you perform every day!

Typically for about every 10 points worth of work you do you’ll get 1 new distributor for your business.

This can be applied to ANY business because the key to all of them is consistency.

You can make this fun and host team competitions for whoever has the most points each week.  Make it FUN!   Remember that even though people are participating in a home business they typically enjoy the social aspects of building it.

I teach all of my distributors how to apply these techniques in a fun and efficient manner, but if you’d like to learn how to apply more advanced techniques I would recommend getting a copy of “Building On a Budget” which I’ve found invaluable in building my business.

As I mentioned in the first portion of this series it is very important to know what you’re getting yourself into no matter what type of business.  If you don’t understand these areas you run the risk of losing   your business   and wasting your time.

You need to know:

Who endorses the company?

You need to have third party support that potential customers, employees or representatives can relate to.  This endorsement really needs to align with the product or service strongly as well.

What direct competition do they have?

Is this a one of a kind product you’ll be selling or are there a lot of other companies selling competing products?  What sets their products apart from the competition?

Are they publicly traded?

Depending on the area this may not be critical, but when choosing a home based business it might be.  Because of corporate reporting laws and other things put in place to protect investors a publicly traded company has the potential to be a better choice than a private company.

Do their policies and procedures limit your marketing efforts in any way?

Some companies require that you only market to specific types of customers or limit your use of certain words or phrases in your marketing.  You need to clearly understand these limitations so that when you are building your game plan you’re not caught off guard.

Do they charge extra for tools, websites, etc?  How much?

You need to know how much you’ll expect to pay for a web site, business cards, leads, etc.  Some companies include this for free and others charge.  Don’t assume anything.

What countries can you do business in?

We are constantly operating in a global market and you need to keep this in mind from the beginning.  If you can only do business in the United States you’re severely limiting your upside potential.

What paperwork are you expected to do?

Some companies will handle everything for you while others require you to track your business personally.  Make sure you know what will be expected of you.

How do the business opportunities you’re evaluating stack up?

I had an interesting conversation with one of my good friends the other day over a game of pool.  He told me about how he could sit with another entrepreneur and brainstorm new ideas that might “make money” for hours. 

I’ve seen this time and time again where someone will see a business opportunity and believe that because it can possibly make money they should proceed. 

This is dangerous and you should always do your homework first.

Whether you’re looking to open up a new home business or start a new McDonald’s franchise you need to make sure you’re choosing the right opportunity for you.  Many times one opportunity will shine over another pretty obviously, but sometimes it boils down to whom your direct mentor will be.

Here are some key questions that should allow you to determine if an opportunity will be appropriate for you:

This will help you understand how well established the company is.  There have been tons of examples of companies that are only around for a few years before being shut down or closing up shop.

You don’t need to go crazy and do market analysis for this, but understanding how many people you know might be interested in the product is a start.  Begin by taking a group of your friends or family members and asking them about their use of similar or competing products.

Your business will live or die by your ability to develop leaders.  It is critical for you to have support from all levels of the business.  Understanding the leadership’s strengths and weaknesses is critical.

If you are considering beginning a network marketing endeavor you should also critically examine the direct up-line as they will be responsible for getting you started.

We are all constantly learning and growing in many different personal areas.  Each person has their own deficiencies and will need education.  Make sure that the areas you are weak in are supplemented by training!

None of us will live forever and you need to be sure you know what might happen to your million dollar business after you are no longer on the planet!

Stay tuned for part 2 of this series where I will cover some additional questions that will help you to choose the right opportunity to invest your time and money in.

Most of us feel that it’s important to be on time for work, school and other engagements, but there are some people that have a hard time making it all work.  Since the definition of insanity is “doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different result” I thought it might be useful to shed some light on something more tangible with regard to being late, the cost. 

I believe that if you can actually see the costs associated with tardiness it might be a stronger motivation for making some minor life-hacks to become a timelier person. 

Travel

Finances

The effects of tardiness with your finances are typically pretty obvious, but it wouldn’t be right for me to leave them out.  Not only do most companies charge you for being late, but one of the worst cases is that many credit cards will increase your interest rate on top of charging you late fees.  It pays to make sure your finances are addressed in a timely manner.

Work

Aside from the fact that you might be fired if you’re frequently late for work, managers are less likely to promote someone who is frequently late.  Many employers will track your tardiness over a period of time and may eventually terminate you for it.  You might be lucky enough to  scoot by for a time, but eventually it will catch up with you.

Personal

As if the items above aren’t terrible enough, you should also keep in mind the personal costs.  First, it can create added stress for you and the people around you.  Second, it begins to eat at your reputation.  People that are chronically late are typically viewed as having less integrity that their timely peers.  Remember that you are what other people think you are so guard your reputation!

Late Personality Types

Dr.  DeLonzor, the author of “Never Be Late Again”, knows her subject, because she was once chronically late, too.  She places the chronically late into seven categories:

The rationalizer has a hard time acknowledging responsibility for lateness and tends to blame outside circumstances.

The producer wants to squeeze as much into every minute as possible; they are always busy.

The deadliner subconsciously enjoys the last-minute sprint to the finish line; they feel more alive when running out of time.

The indulger exercises less self-control; tends to procrastinate.

The rebel resists authority and everyday rules; might run late as a form of control.

The absent-minded professor is easily distracted, forgetful and caught up in their own introspection.

The evader feels anxiety about his or her environment and tries to control it; their own needs or routine come before being on time.

Ways to decrease chances of tardiness

Keeping the personality types above in mind in would require much more space to delve into many suggestions for how to alter your life, but I would be pretty rude to sit here and whine about people being late without providing some suggestions for how to make it better.  

·         Don’t check e-mail / voicemail right before you need to leave – This one is pretty simple, but many people still want to check their messages near their exit time.  If you’re leaving in the next hour avoid checking.

·         Set your clocks ahead by random amounts – If you can set 3 or 4 clocks ahead by 5 to 15 minutes each you’ll always leave early.  After a while you’ll learn what the “real” time is and that’s your signal to readjust the clocks again. 

·         Fill your gas at ¼ tank –If you’re having issues being on time then you don’t want to risk needing to fill up on the way to an important appointment.  If you make sure to fill up every time you reach a ¼ tank of gas you’ll never have this happen to you.

Thank you for taking the time to read this article.  Please leave your comments and ideas for other ways that we pay for being late.

Pretty much everywhere you look in sales there are people trying to come up with a list of “warm leads” for various marketing purposes.  Whether you’re in the mortgage, web development, consulting or home based business industries having a solid warm leads list can be invaluable for your business. 

When getting started in my latest venture I found this process was actually more difficult than it first appeared.  I was asked to come up with a list of 100 names.  Even though I feel like I know quite a few people I still had a hard time getting my list to even half that length.  After days of racking my brain I finally made it, but only with a lot of prompting.  I’m hoping that by providing you with a list of ideas it will help your brainstorming and save you some time.Here are some memory joggers to help you with expanding your list:

• Go through your cell phone numbers
• Look at your check register for people you’ve given money to
• Go through old photo albums, family
• Look at your resume and think about each job you’ve held.  Use a service like http://www.linkedin.com to reconnect with these people.
• Think about awards you’ve received and the folks that gave them to you
• Use sites like http://www.Classmates.com or http://www.Facebook.com to remind you of peers and teachers
• Pull out church directories or go to your church web site 
• Add old co-workers who are privy to your hard work ethic
• What clubs or organizations have you been a part of? PTA, rotary club, toastmasters, etc.
• Note all of the homes / apartments you’ve lived in and your neighbors at those times as well as the landlords, managers and owners
• Who have you bought cars from in the past?  How about your home?
• Look at your e-mail sent items
• Do you have a landscaper, house cleaner or other service person at your home regularly?
• Who does your significant other / spouse know? 
• Who babysits your kids?
• What sports / league teams have you been a part of?
• Who are your doctors, dentists, lawyers, accountants, and mechanics?
• Do your children take lessons with anyone?
• What business owners do you know?
• Who goes to the gym you exercise at?
• What are your favorite restaurants?
• Who delivers pizzas or other food to your house?
• Who do you know involved in Avon, Mary Kay or other multi-level marketing companies?
• Who do you know in the military?

Turn off notifications

Set pre-defined times for reading e-mails

If you prefer phone contact setup an auto-responder

Don’t use email as instant messenger / text messaging

If you’re asking a question, place it first and add supporting details afterward

Keep on topic

Take another look before you send