Love: Her Secret Business Ingredient

Celeste Shaw

Co-Editor-in-Chief at Flea Market Style Magazine, Owner at Lucky Vintage and Pretty Things,
and Owner at Chaps Diner and Bakery

People crave my friend 

Really, they actually crave her. Men, women, and children - all can't get enough of Celeste. They cling to her like tacks on a magnet. They eagerly purchase her services, gobbling up everything in sight. And, after just a moment with her, they leave with big smiles on their faces.

Sure, she's pretty and trendy. There's always a fun vibe happening when she's around. But, that's not it. That's not what people are drawn to. There's something that emanates from her that people want to soak up.

It's love, baby!

Love is Celeste's secret business ingredient. One feels it when she puts her hand on your shoulder and looks you in the eye. Her face, her attention, is on you. You know she sees only you. When she holds you in a hug that's just a wee bit longer than most, you know you're treasured. Her love isn't limited to hugs and smiles. It's not all soft and sweetness. Love is the nuts-and-bolts that she uses to build her business.

That ain't love

You know when you've stepped into a business and you're not feeling the love. Like when you get that sense everyone is being herded along, as if you were one of many cattle. Next! Certainly it isn't love that you're getting when you've just spent a whole lot of money and you aren't quite sure what exactly you just purchased. Huh? How about that fake smile that drops when you don't buy? Ugh. Hovering, pushy sales people put off a lot of vibes, but I don't think love is one of them. As a customer, you know when it's not there.

Love is the secret

As a business owner Celeste knows that everyone needs to be acknowledged; all of us need attention and affirmation. She also knows people desperately want security and trustworthiness, so she extends love by providing products and services that are reliable, consistent, and fair. When Celeste greets a client she doesn't secretly see only dollar signs. She sees them as a member of her community, which to her is an extension of her family. Each is a person worthy of being treated with dignity and care. Giving love in this way doesn't cost Celeste anything. Whether her customers actually recognize it or not, they are feeling the love. And, they keep coming back for me. They crave it.

Shouldn't this be the way we treat all the people who we rely on to give us business?

If your business is suffering, if it isn't blooming like it should, try this. Step away from the bottom line for a bit. Take your focus off your profit. Rather, put in extra effort to treat your clients with attention and care. Give service that projects assurance and generates trust. Try love as your secret business ingredient.

Try and Trying Again

Setbacks and delays cannot detour the focused pursuit of a great goal. You go!

Your words have great power.

Here's an excellent way to start the week. Remember Miguel Ruiz's points from The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom:

1. Be Impeccable With Your Word
Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.

2. Don't Take Anything Personally
Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won't be the victim of needless suffering.

3. Don't Make Assumptions
Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.

4. Always Do Your Best
Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret."

Image Source: Karen Salmonsohn

What is your influence score?

"Respect is how to treat everyone, not just those you want to impress." 

~Richard Branson

Yesterday my friend and colleague Karen Keller asked me to take a survey. She's collecting data for her study on influence. Going through the process was an interesting experience. I had to rate myself in qualities such as trustworthiness, positive attitude, listening, the ability to take risks, and such. 

For providing Karen with my information, I am promised that I will receive an in-depth report that will rate my overall potential to influence, scores for each of my influence traits, an explanation of the scores and what they mean, improvement areas, blind spots, and recommendations for increasing overall influence. Great! I'm all for learning more about myself.

Initially, I zipped through the questions, thinking it was a simple exercise  As the questions progressed, I realized I had some serious thoughts about influence and what a responsibility it is. My reflections turned to the people who have influenced me through the years. Some where considered to be powerful influencers due to their leadership skills and other successes. Others made an impression just by being kind and available. 

I then thought about those that use gossip, social pressure, position, and bravado to influence. They use these as a means to get clients, peers, employees, and business associates to conform. Hmmmm. Sometimes it really works, helping them to become financially successful or climb to a position of power. But, for how long? Often these influencers cover their motivation with smiles and compliments, promising great things.

But in the end, whether they want to believe it or not, their ethics and morals shine through to others. 

When I finished the survey, I realized that for good or not so good, what's in one's heart, one's true motivation, doesn't stay hidden. I am looking forward to my results. Well, kind of. Like most people, I want to see high scores for being amazing. Yet, the most useful thing I can take from this experience is the revelation of what needs to change. 

If you are a leader, business owner, professional, or executive and are interested in participating in Dr. Karen Keller's work, go to http://influenceindicator.com/user/register. Username: influence and Password: survey.

Here's a little bit about Dr. Keller:

Karen Keller, Ph. D. is the Influence It! Life Coach for women and creator of the website Real Power For Women Who Want It. Unlike other psychologists, Karen is also a Master Certified Coach and the only modern-day teacher of Influence as a way of inner thinking and being…then ultimately doing for having more of what you (really) want. Her first book, "Stepping Stones to Success: Experts Share Strategies For Mastering Business, Life & Relationships" with Deepak Chopra, Jack Canfield, and Denis Waitley was published in 2010.

As I said, I'm looking forward to my report. How about you? What is your influence score? 

Sow generously

Going above and beyond in service and generosity of spirit will always, always have it's rewards. The reverse is also true. Holding back, shorting another, being greedy, will come back with interest. This is one of those beautiful laws of the universe. Remember, what you sow, you will reap! 

Sow generously today! 

Image source: Jay Roeder

Peace is always beautiful

"This is what you shall do; Love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to everyone that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence toward the people, take off your hat to nothing known or unknown or to any man or number of men, go freely with powerful uneducated persons and with the young and with the mothers of families, read these leaves in the open air every season of every year of your life, re-examine all you have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul, and your very flesh shall be a great poem and have the richest fluency not only in its words but in the silent lines of its lips and face and between the lashes of your eyes and in every motion and joint of your body." ~Walt Whitman

Lead by teaching

"If you believe in peace, act peacefully; if you believe in love, acting lovingly; if you believe every which way, then act every which way, that's perfectly valid - but don't go out trying to sell your beliefs to the system. You end up contradicting what you profess to believe in, and you set a bum example. If you want to change the world, change yourself." ~Tom Robbins