Are
you one of those business owners who thinks they have to hire a big PR
firm to promote business? Is it because you don't know where to start?
Public relations can be broken down into smaller or "millimeter"
techniques that won't overwhelm your time.
Help a Reporter Out (HARO) is
a FREE service you can sign up to use. It send thrice daily queries
from major publications. It lists categories of requests (e.g., Travel,
Business and Finance, Lifestyle). Major publications such as Forbes or Success Magazine
editors post what information they want for a story. You can simply
answer their requests. If they like what they read, they will either
interview you or ask you questions. You could have an interview in
national media. Did you have to write and release a press release? No.
It's easy to respond to questions, right?
How To Brighten Anyone’s Day
As a practicing orthodontist, I am passionate about helping people achieve the smile of their dreams. My 30-years experience in the field is what prompted me to write my book, It's All About Millimeters: How Small Changes Can Make a Big Impact in Your Business and Your life. I saw how small, millimeter changes in a patient’s bite and smile, made an enormous difference in their self-esteem and opportunities for their lives.
I am not suggesting that in order to brighten someone’s day
you need to be an orthodontist!
However, in my practice, it is all about smiles. And smiles brighten the
world.
Have you ever noticed that the people who are always smiling
make you smile too when you speak with them? Did you notice that they smile even when confronted with an
irritated customer, client or patient?
I have a staff member like this at our front desk who
handles all the appointments. She
is always smiling, even when a parent or patient is upset about something. Even on the phone speaking with people
she is smiling.
I love her can-do attitude and her ability to make others
smile (me too) just because she is smiling.
This is another example of using millimeters to make a
difference. A simple smile.
Try it today, right now. Smile more, smile often and share your
smile and see how the world around you will smile back. You will brighten other people’s day
and your day too will feel that much better
Staying Organized in Small Steps
Are
you always on the fly? Can't keep your schedule straight. You're moving
at the speed of light, and when you arrive at your destination or your
business meeting only to find you forgot something. Maybe you feel like
you're only partially prepared, but inevitably you always have something
you missed. Want to know a simple "millimeter" strategy to fix the
problem and reduce stress?
Prepare
once! Create a checklist of items. Spend a few hours and organize
"kits". Make about 10-20 kits based on the checklist. Whatever materials
you'll need for the average meeting or presentation, use a kit and have
it on standby. The kit should include:
- Business Cards
- Brochures or information sheets
- Sign-up sheets to create mailing lists (when it applies)
- Background on your business
- Any material you might need to sell or give away (products, books or coupons)
Do You Do This?
I was recently on a very long flight from Dublin to Chicago and had an opportunity to watch a movie starring Keanu Reeves and Charlize Theron. In the movie Keanu plays, Nelson, a workaholic-advertising executive who meets Sara (Theron) while taking a DMV test to renew his license. Without going into much detail (you need to see this movie), Sara is the exact opposite of the hard-driving Nelson.
She convinces Nelson to spend a month with her to “help”
him.
Sara is a remarkable example of a "millimeter approach" to
life.
She looks at the small joys in life, walking and running on
a beach with dogs, home-cooked meals, encouraging a local boy without a dad,
knowing all her local neighbors, and enjoying the simplest yet
extraordinary things in life.
That is what a “millimeter approach” is all about.
Do you stop and see the small, but extraordinary things
around you?
Do you have time for helping others, getting to know your
neighbors, or just taking a walk on a beach around the neighborhood or on a beautiful
trail?
Hey, I am guilty of NOT doing this, and the beauty of this
movie, brought me back to the reality of life. It is the “millimeters” around us, the small moments,
experiences that bring us the most joy. With our plugged-in and tuned-out world, we all need these “millimeter”
moments daily in our lives.
Three Things We Do To Sabotage Our Health
Recently I have been so busy that I told my husband the
other day that it felt like finals week in college, but instead of being a week
of all-nighters and extreme quantities of caffeine, it is more like a college
quarter of late nights, poor sleep, no exercise and bad eating habits.
Sound familiar?
Sometimes your business or your job requires you to spend
serious amounts of time and energy delivering products or services to your
customers, clients or patients.
Since the economy is still in a recovering mode, when business shows up
you take it.
Unfortunately, we sometimes overestimate our ability to get
it all done and still take care of our families and ourselves. Typically the first thing that suffers
is our routines regarding our health and wellness.
The three things I see most entrepreneurs and business owners do
under these circumstances that sabotages their health is to eat and drink foods
that are not particular healthy for them, reduce sleep time, and forget to
exercise.
These three things if prolonged beyond a week or quarter
of “finals” will ultimately hurt
you both physically and mentally.
As a proponent of a “millimeter approach” to health and
wellness here are my three tips to help you stay healthy when you have a “finals”
week, month or quarter.
#1 make sure you have plenty of fresh fruit, veggies and
salad ingredients in your refrigerator so you can easily grab a healthy snack
or throw together a healthy salad quickly without having to get the pots and
pans out. Another idea is to make
a big pot of soup on a Sunday that can be enjoyed several days with some hearty
bread. This type of food will keep
your energy levels high so you can avoid the Red Bull, Coffee and Espresso
overload.
#2 If you are not sleeping well or just a few hours a night,
make sure on the weekends you get a chance to catch up either via a daytime nap
or just getting to bed earlier on a Saturday night. If you are traveling on
airplanes, learn to nap during the flight. This is my preferred method of catching up on my sleep. Studies show how napping can improve
your cardiovascular health and wellness and keep you alert and refreshed.
#3 No time for exercise? Carve out even 10 minutes a day to take a walk, stretch or
just do push-ups, sit-ups and squats.
If you get another 10 minutes later in the day repeat.
Using a “millimeter” approach to maintaining your health and
wellness, you will find it much easier to stay on the program even during times
of stress, excessive workloads and “finals”.
Work-Life Balance in Millimeters
A
common complaint, especially among women, is time. I don't have enough
time for my personal life. How do you achieve work-life balance? One
"millimeter" a time, of course. How you ask? Starting very small. If you
find yourself with no personal time at the end of a hectic day or every
day, then make a small change. Do just one thing a day just for you. If
it's take a bubble bath, do it. If it's ride a bike for 30 minutes, do
it. If it's cook a meal because that relaxes you, do it. If it's go get a
pedicure, do it. Set aside 30 minutes or more if you can, but just 30
minutes just for you. Even if that means closing your bedroom door for
30 minutes and shutting your eyes. Just do it! It doesn't have to be a
BIG step just a small one.
The Truth About Millimeters
People ask me all the time why do I use the term “millimeters?” Why not “inches?” After all, in the United States, where I live, the metric system is not the standard measurement system.
My answer is simply this; it is what I have been using for
over 30 years to evaluate the success of patients’ orthodontic cases. A “millimeter” of overbite, cross bite,
or rotation in my world is a big deal and often means the difference between
exceptional results versus a good result.
Most of my patients (and I believe most people) want the best results
possible when it comes to their bites and smiles. Hence, we measure everything in “millimeters” which are very
small, but very significant.
With that analogy in place, you can see why I talk about
millimeters as a way of improving our business, our professional practices, our
careers and our lives.
Most of us usually try to accomplish 12 things a day, maybe
get two done and feel like a failure and often just give up.
When you focus on just small “millimeter” steps at a time,
you will be able to achieve your goals and see progress. It is the small steps taken each and
everyday that will pave the way to the success you are looking to achieve in
your business and your life.
A patient once said to me, “that must be tough Dr. Galante,
measuring your results in millimeters all the time?”
I paused and thought about it and answered back, “actually I
am quite lucky to have to think about millimeters of tooth movement, because I
know that it will make your smile the best it can be and I believe if more
people looked at the very small things in their lives
that are significant, their would be a lot more happiness and joy in their
lives.”
You see it is the small things, “the millimeters” in life
that ultimately bring us the most joy and happiness. Think about this today. Write down a few of your greatest pleasures, the things that
make you smile and feel good.
I would love to hear about your millimeter stories here on
my blog or you can email me at drdonna@drdonnagalante.com
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