Energy flows towards purpose
Though direction remains elusive
Direct access confounded by circumstance

The path of beauty
Riddled with thorns
The bleeding creates pause

Distracted by misery
The wounding now present
Anguish replaces elation

The dream unrealized
Lost in pain
Caught in the trapping of turmoil

Three choices remain
Remain, retreat or advance
Every direction wrapped with perplexity

Excruciating progression the only option
Near death the outcome
Tear stained path lies behind

Inadequacy replaced by courage
Mysterious strength emerges
Poised triumphantly

~ Ricci

Growing up without a father didn’t seem like that big of a deal. For a little girl unaware, it just was.

She can’t remember anyone asking much her about her father or where he was. Perhaps it was because she kept mostly superficial relationships, at best.

Those who did get close looked past the acting out, past her wounding. It was usually someone who had fallen in love and became determined to save her from herself.

As each Father’s Day approached, she found herself reflecting, ultimately seeing that it had been so classic. The young fatherless daughter, yearning to fill a void that she didn’t even realize that she had.

So desperate was she, her prom date had grey hair. At the time, she said it was because she wanted to go to the prom in a Porche. But what seventeen year old wants something like that so badly that she’d be willing to go with a man obviously well into his thirties? And let’s not even get on to the topic of the man who was willing to take her…

As the years passed, the thoughts, feelings and emotions around fatherlessness were swept under the carpet. A disconnection began to take place. “That’s in the past”, she whispered to herself.

Creating a persona that did not require the presence of a father served her strong desire to silence the pain.

Experiencing the truth would surely lead her to a place of pity. No, she would never want that anyone should feel sorry. She had survived, and thrived, by staying focused on what was positive. Avoidance and denial were her only tools.

However, as areas of her soul began to awaken, it was as if fireflies were igniting in her psyche. The pulses of light reflected upon the areas of darkness, begging to be illuminated for good.

Once realized, she had no choice but to embrace the little girl that she had left so far behind.

Connecting with the pain, and the hidden beauty it contained, was her saving grace.

As she opened her eyes, it was as if the world had shifted into place. For as long as she could remember, she had lived her life, looking for someone to guide her. To help her find the rest of the instruction manual, the pieces of her internal code that were missing.

She soon realized that her missing pieces included the guidance of a father.

Moving through that pain led her to a place of freedom. The freedom that comes with understanding that she has the rare opportunity to create any of those pieces she wants.

There is no instruction manual.

She, like everyone else, gets to write her own.

- Ricci Neer

Click below to listen to this 29 minute audio interview!

The interview should start automatically in the player below -

We’ve all seen it, heck, most of us have even read it.  But at that moment, I realized something.  This is merely a reflection.

What happened the last time you tried to talk to someone, who was not business-minded, about your business?  Perhaps a family member or friend?  They might have even started the conversation by asking how your business was going.  But when you answered , you could see that familiar glaze upon their eyes and the distracted interruptions they began to make.

You may have been bewildered, left wondering why they really didn’t care.  You might have even been tempted to take it personally.

The truth is, the groceries stores have it right.  Their messaging and offerings cater to the general population.  Look at the picture above.  Where are the personal development and success-oriented publications?

Even on the end-caps where the pricier magazines live, you won’t find Entrepreneur, Fast Start, Business Week, Money, Fortune or Inc.

The publications in the picture are merely a reflection of what most people want to hear about.  Now, before you say “well this is a grocery store, what do you expect?”, think about the fact that most people go to the grocery store.

If most people (who go to the grocery store) were focused on success and business, then the checkout counters would be filled with related publications (because that is what most people would buy).  But they aren’t, and they don’t.

So, while you are busy conquering the world, your sister-in-law’s thoughts are on Alicia Key’s wedding, Sandra Bullock’s baby, and Angelina Jolie’s family drama.

Nestled in there are how to make quick meals and lose weight.  At the bottom, you can purchase your share of entertainment and meal cards for yourself and your loved ones.

There are two things to consider.  First, consider where most people live.  In their mind, that is.  You may have lived there once yourself.  The daily grind, earning just enough to pay the bills (maybe), times of boredom, mindlessly flipping through channels, reading tabloids to escape.  Just being numb.  Unclear.  Little passion.  Surrounded by friends with no dreams.

Now here you are, juiced up from a convention or networking event, making a difference in the lives of others, the possibility of making more money than you’ve ever made in your life is within your reach, you’re excited, passionate, with big dreams…

Ack!  What a loon!  You’re not like my other friends, in fact, you aren’t like anyone I’ve ever known.  You are “out there” man!  You must be high or delusional coming at me with all that “you can do it too!” nonsense.  Have you seen my life?  You do understand what life dealt me, right?  There’s no way.  And you’d best do yourself a favor and come back down to earth.  Be normal like the rest of us.  It’s safe here anyway.  It’s predictable and we are in control.

They might not understand what they are feeling, they might not have the words to describe it, but at the end of the day, they are uncomfortable.  And you made them that way.

Armed with this insight and understanding, how might you change your messaging to reach them?  If you want to make a difference in their lives, consider your approach when talking to others about your business, especially those who are perpetually parked in the grocery store aisle.

The second thing to consider is that people want to be entertained.  They want to know about the reality surrounding famous people – people they don’t even know!  They watch their reality shows, read about them in magazines and get the scoop about them on TMZ.

Do you think that Angelina Jolie spends more time reading about other famous people…or doing what she needs to do to stay famous herself?

Why is it that most people would rather spend their time living vicariously through those who are actually doing it?  Because it’s harder to do it yourself.  Besides, most people have never been taught how and don’t believe that they can.

If you aren’t a traditional entertainer, like an actor or singer, it can be even harder.  The truth is, anyone can be a business rock star.  We all have something that we are really good at.  And if we aren’t, we can be.  With dedication, practice and determination, we can be really good.

Once we become really good, we can become interesting enough that people want to follow our stories.  In fact, there are a few business-related famous people I can think of right now who are interesting enough to attract a following -

Richard Branson.

Donald Trump.

Gary Vaynerchuk.

Tony Hsieh.

(Insert famous rock star level business women here??!!)

You get the point. (Now I’m not saying there aren’t any successful business-minded women, but how many have retailed (sold) something tangible, grew it into an iconic brand and then got famous enough for paparazzi?   And I don’t mean media-related icons like Oprah or Martha Stewart.  But I digress.)

My point is, you can take your business to warp speed by being entertaining.  Do something interesting.  Be exciting.  Most people want to know about beautiful, famous, rich and successful people.  Just look at the picture above.  That’s what people care about, even if they can never imagine it for themselves.

What makes Gary Vaynerchuk and those guys attract a following?  There could be an entire class dedicated to the psychology behind that.  I’ll stop short and just say what they don’t do.  They don’t go throwing up their business on everyone that has a pulse.  They aren’t trying to convince their uncle that their business works (can you imagine Donald Trump trying to “convince” someone to invest in real estate??!).  Famous people aren’t spending their time on convincing others.  They are busy doing the things that make them famous.  Hustling deals, being creative, inventing new ways of doing things.

So many business-minded people are inspired by the names mentioned above.  You can do it too.

By shining your light upon the world, you give people hope.  Hope that they too can do it for themselves.

How will your let your rock star shine today?

★ Ricci

]]> http://riccineer.com/blog/population-mindset/feed/ 0 http://riccineer.com/blog/rock-star-news-from-ricci/ http://riccineer.com/blog/rock-star-news-from-ricci/#comments Mon, 26 Jul 2010 03:06:08 +0000 admin http://InspiredRockStar.com/?p=3301 Continue reading →]]> How is your summer going so far? When I think of “dog days” (as in “dog days of summer), I think of an old, yellow lab, snoozing on a covered porch, a rocking chair nearby, a sweaty pitcher of cold tea on the table and the buzz of cicadas in the air. I don’t know about you, but my summer

How is your summer going so far? When I think of “dog days” (as in “dog days of summer), I think of an old, yellow lab, snoozing on a covered porch, a rocking chair nearby, a sweaty pitcher of cold tea on the table and the buzz of cicadas in the air. I don’t know about you, but my summer hasn’t been anything like that! It’s been more like an exhilarating ride at Mach 3! Last week, I was at the eWomenNetwork 10th Anniversary conference. If we’re connected on Facebook, you’ve probably seen the pictures. If not, you can see them here! We heard from some major rock stars of the business world including Tony Hsieh (Zappos.com), Connie Podesta, Marcia Wieder, Zig Zigler, Debbie Meyer (Green Bags) and many more! Before the conference started, my family and I went up a few days early to spend some time together and see Mary Allen during her Awakening Beyond Achievement tour. It was a wonderful event and they even snapped a little video of me while I was there. (You can see it on her YouTube channel here.) We also went to the Taste of Dallas and got a chance to see Cas Haley. Da Maniacs (America’s Got Talent) were there and Ben was able to snag a shot with them: As I look through pictures from the last few weeks, I realize that there is so much I haven’t shared with you, like my recent class at the Wizard Academy, the Women Impacting the Nation talk, a party at my friend Adeline Rem’s house, my new Rock Star custom chocolate bar… But i’ll save some of that for my next newsletter For now, how about I share with you some stuff that hasn’t happened yet? I’d love for you to be a part, so save the date, pencil it in, register…do what you can, because I’d love to connect with you soon! 7/26 – Biznik event in Austin, TX 7/27-28 – Young Writers Workshop @ Wizard Academy 7/29 – Exclusive Mastermind event at my office 7/30 – Chocolate Blues & Business, Austin, TX 7/31 – The Shift Economy Radio show 3pm CST (I’m co-hosting!) 8/11 – eWomenNetwork Luncheon, Austin, TX Thank you to everyone who took advantage of Ben’s promotion to earn his way to the Young Writer’s workshop! He earned half of his own tuition thanks to 17 wonderful friends who became members over the last three weeks. There are still 10 spots open and Ben will continue to work on entering business cards through the end of August. If you’d like to participate, simply register on the following page: http://inspiredrockstar.com/rock-star-membership/ Make sure and read the offer – during the second month, you’ll get a copy of my Google Local workbook! Thank you for reading. I hope to connect with you soon! Let your rock star shine! ? Ricci (pronounced Rikki) Neer 262-757-8277 ricci@riccineer.com InspiredRockStar.com “Transcendent marketing for entrepreneurs, small businesses and independent professionals.” Copyright (C) 2010 Ricci Neer. All rights reserved.

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Oftentimes, Facebook users will simply put three w’s in front of the domain name (yoursite.com), but if you may have noticed that you cannot click the link that way.

With, or without, the w’s, you must have http:// in front of the domain name to make it so that people can actually click on the link.

So, instead of www.facebook.com, you’d need to put http://www.facebook.com for the link to become automatically clickable on Facebook.

What is the state of your mailing list?  Whether it’s non-existent, haphazard or seamlessly systematized we’ve got tips this month to make your mailing list (or lack thereof) more effective for you!

Here’s an excerpt from the members-only white paper “Your Cards Are In – Now What?“:

If you attend a lot of networking or business-related events, you probably collect your share of business cards. What to do with those cards has been a topic of business strategy and thought for years.

Regardless of what system you choose to use to send out your newsletters and email communications, your questions surrounding what you should say and how often you say it, might only be answered by trying new things to find what works for you and your business or organization.

Here are three key things you should do when developing your mailing list marketing plan…

To get access to this members-only white paper, login or register!

Mike Stein, Nick Stokes, Ricci Neer & Paul Haarman

Ricci was featured on The Shift Economy show, AM 1370 Austin, with Paul Haarman, Neil Stokes & Mike Stein. If you market intellectual property, are in network marketing, are starting a new business or feel like your marketing isn’t effective – then be sure and listen to this interview! (approx. 13 mins)