For Immediate Release
CONTACT: Dea Shandera
Tel:  818 456 4585
Email: deashandera@yahoo.com
MANICURIST TO MILLIONAIRE SHARES SIMPLE, SUCCESSFUL TOOLS THAT GUIDED HER NEW LIFE IN HER LATEST BOOK “GIVING YOU THE WOW AND THE HOW”
 
–Sharmen Lane’s transforming and relatable strategies help people make better choices, “moving from ordinary to extraordinary” –
 
     Los Angeles, CA –– A life path beginning in a highly dysfunctional family environment, moving from high school dropout to manicurist and eventually achieving self-made millionaire status sounds more like a Hollywood fairy tale but, as Sharmen Lane describes in her compelling new book, GIVING YOU THE WOW AND THE HOW, she made the transformation happen following the simplest principles of her own design drawn from her personal life experiences. The result is a stimulating “fix-it” chronicle that gives readers the tools to “get from where you are to where you want to be.”
            Her immensely readable life-changing narrative, subtitled  “44 Tips from the Millionaire Manicurist That Will Change Your Life Now” and published by Morgan James Publishing (February 24, 2010  $14.95), does more than recount a sad, unfulfilled early life populated by nine divorces among her parents, alcohol, bad choices and a host of other negatives that could have consumed her. Rather, Ms. Lane, highly-regarded motivational speaker, life coach, author and radio show host, shares with readers just how she focused on her passions, conquered fears and made choices that empowered her to create a dream lifestyle – all by using the tools she now makes accessible to everyone.
            The one-time manicurist making $20,000 a year describes through 44 straightforward tips how readers can, as she did, “power past” their fears and find a way out of an unfulfilling life. Ms. Lane offers practical examples of how to give a voice to individual passions to inspire growth, whether dealing with one’s personal relationships, professional life, educational aspirations or improved health.
            The book recounts simple principles evolved from Ms. Lane’s own experiences that guided her dramatic life changes — whether losing 30 pounds (and keeping it off), making more money than she ever imagined possible ($1.2 million a year before she was 30), running a marathon, retiring from corporate life at 34,  and even earning a college degree.
            Through dozens of simple exercises and lessons, innovative tools outlined in GIVING YOU THE WOW AND THE HOW include learning to break down your goals into manageable areas so that every goal, regardless of how complex, seems attainable. Readers also learn to use the power of their emotions, and controlling them, as tools for change, how to “knock out the negative,” how to control one’s feelings with the “Ten Second Rule,” conquering fear, teaching accountability, and how to make empowering choices.
            Chapter titles reveal the scope and unpretentious style of her narrative –“Take Your Talk for a Walk,” “Kick Your Fear in the Rear,” “What You Feel You Make Real,” “Putting Off Procrastination,” among them.
           About the Author:  Manicurist to millionaire Sharmen Lane is a widely recognized four- time author, motivational speaker, life coach and radio host (Now to Wow on 1230am WBLQ). She has been interviewed on Lifetime TV, NPR, New York Daily News, BusinessWeek, and many others. She has written articles for National Magazines and has spoken for several large companies, corporations, high schools, colleges, charities and non-profit organizations throughout the world. As a motivational speaker, she has trained, managed, and coached thousands of individuals on what it takes to get what they want.
            About the Publisher:  Morgan James has revolutionized book publishing - from the author’s standpoint. Their Entrepreneurial Publishing Model™ enriches authors as well as the company. Morgan James Publishing was selected by Publishers Weekly as the 3rd fastest growing publisher in tough times for 2009 for their leading creative thinking, significant accomplishments and stands to have a momentous impact on the industry for the next 10 years.

For more information, visit:  www.wowandthehow.com

By Success Expert and Motivational Speaker, Sharmen Lane

Hello World and Happy New Year!

No matter how you rang in the new year, there is no better time than the first day of the year to get started on making this an unforgettable, unstoppable year.

Most people set New Years Resolutions on New Years Eve, unfortunately they are quick to be forgotten by the end of the month… if it takes that long. What can you do to make this year different?  Here are a few tools and tips to give you the edge and make what you want happen.

1. Write your goal down. Don’t just say "I’m going to do blank."  Say, "I’m DOING blank."

2. Tell everyone you know.  Make a list starting right now of all the people you can share your goal with. Then call, email, text, twitter or whatever else you want but tell anyone and everyone you know about what you are DOING!

3. Create a vision board.  I do this every New Year’s Eve and now have vision board parties on New’s Year’s.  Cut out pictures of what you want and post them where you can see them often.  If you want to be an author, cut out a book cover and put your name and face on it.  If you want a lean, 10% body fat, size 8 body, or 34 inch waist, cut out a picture and put your face on it.  Make it real and see it so you can be it!

There you go, three simple steps to making what you want, real.  Remember, you have to make a plan and take action and these first three steps will start your journey.

Have an extraordinary year! Now get to it!

For more information visit ww.sharspeaks.com or email shar@sharspeaks.com. Also keep an eye out for my latest book, Giving You the WOW and the HOW, due out in early 2010!

In this day and age more people than not are using their cell phones for business use.  Not surprising considering the number of home based businesses being started every day.  To help you below is a list of 10 things you can do to maximize the use of your cell phone to save you money and make you more productive. To find another 75 tips visit cell phone blog.

1. Mobile Web:   Internet access anywhere anytime. Most mobile phone service providers offer a plan which includes internet service.   With mobile web you can read and send email, sign up for mobile banking services where you can pay bills and transfer funds, and you can check the weather or bet directions.

2. Speed it up. Mobile web is inarguable a highly valuable asset for business and domestic purposes.  But the speed of the web pages you access through your cell phone are often poor quality compared to what is available on your desktop or laptop.  The InfoGin company offers a solution.  The company offers a service which improves the quality of the content from the web pages you receive and the speed at which you receive it.  Though you may need to perform an extra step or two to if you want to route your service through InfoGin, the extra time and actions will be well worth the effort.  You may need to load the portal and enter your web addresses through the InfoGin portal.  But if time and quality are important to you, it may not be too much of an issue.

3. Unlock your phone.  Many service providers lock your phone so that you cannot obtain service on that particular cell phone through any other provider.  For those who do not know how to tell if their phone is locked, just put a sim card from another provider into your phone and turn it on.  If you get any type of message stating the phone cannot access service, your phone is locked.  What benefit is there to unlocking your phone?  If your phone is locked, you cannot access service with any other provider. This can be especially frustrating if you are traveling and trying to avoid roaming charges or if you have a good cell phone you still want to use and want to switch your service to a different provider.

4. Get the service provider code. To unlock your phone, you must have a code from the service provider or the phone manufacturer.  You can contact your service provider and ask their customer service representative to provide you with the unlock code, but they may be less than cooperative.  Your other option is to check out one of the sites which offer unlock codes or remote unlock services for a relatively cheap price.  You just enter the code into your phone and voila.  You can then use your phone to get service from any provider you choose without having to purchase a new phone and a new phone number.  You can purchase a sim card to be used when traveling out of your country of residence and avoid the insanely expensive phone bills.

5. Debranding your phone will remove the logos, images, themes, profiles and other predefined memory hogging items placed on your cell phone by the manufacturer and/or service provider.  When you debrand your phone, you can increase your available memory and rid your phone of locks which prevent you from being able to obtain free ringtones and images from other providers.

6. Firmware upgrades. When you purchase your cell phone you do so with the understanding that a newer, more advanced software version will be introduced afterwards.  Though you know this will inevitably occur, it doesn’t prevent the frustration you feel when you see all of the features and additional benefits offered on the newer version.  Firmware upgrades will allow you to access and load the newer version of the software onto your older cell phone version.  This can be done through a remote server comparable to those which offer the unlocking service.

7. Flashing your cell phone will clear unwanted manufacturer trial games and predetermined themes from your cell phone.  This will provide you with additional memory and save you from having to look at these unwanted items in your menu every time you scan through it.  You can also eliminate cell phone software problems you may be experiencing like a blinking, blue or white screen.  Flashing can be done by remote software and also with hardware.

8. Jailbreaking your iPhone allows you to eliminate the restrictions imposed on tailoring your cell phone to your specifications by your software. It is important that this be done properly and carefully so that no damage is done to the software causing the phone to malfunction.  Though this is a possible risk it is not a common one.  What this process achieves is liberation of sorts.  You can add customized options such as ring tones and wallpapers which are generally restricted on the phones.  Considering the cost of the cell phone itself, you should be able to personalize the phone the way you want.   If you are interested and want to learn to do this, check out this link.

9. Hash codes are mathematical functions which convert a large amount of information into a small index.  In the case of cell phones, hash codes unlock hidden features of your phone.  You can reset your phone to factory settings or turn on voice privacy feature or even check your signal strength.  Hash codes can be specific to a particular phone model or could work on several models but exclude others.  The advantage to using hash codes is that you are able to correct or diagnose certain problems you may be having with your phone due to changes you made or downloads.  Instead of having to send your phone in for repair or buy a new one, you can try one of the hash codes to restore your phone.

10. Free international calls.  In the past, if you want to talk to someone across an ocean you should be prepared to pay.  That is until Rebtel and Talkster developed an ad-supported free service to make these once outrageously expensive calls completely free.  The service works by creating local phone numbers for both parties.  One party would call a local number generated for them and the other party would have to hang up the phone and call back to their local number. The call is routed through a VoIP server and is at no cost to either party if completed correctly.

Above information was provided by cellphones.org/blog: For more information and additional tips visit http://cellphones.org/blog/tips/85-cell-phone-tips-tricks-and-hacks-for-a-more-streamlined-life
 

I recently interviewed Michael Jackson, obviously not THE Michael Jackson who recently passed, on my radio program, Now to Wow on 96.7 WBLQ.  Mike is currently a partner at Sarkissian Mason, www.sarkissianmason.com a New York City based agency of invention specializing in developing creative solutions to its clients business opportunities utilizing technology. Mike is the former VP of Marketing and Advertising for General Motors North America where he was responsible for some of the most successful new product launches in the company’s history. He can share some very detailed and interesting inside information on the fall of the auto industry, but that’s a topic for a whole different article.

 While at GM, Mike created a valuable top 10 list of good business practices that can be used to excel in both business and in life.  As basic as they may seem, some of the best things in life are those that are simple but rarely used. Perhaps you have heard the phrase, common knowledge doesn’t mean common practice. Well, this top 10 list fits that phrase perfectly as many of us have heard these things before but many don’t necessarily practice them. Hopefully these basic concepts will remind you of what you already know to help you in business and in life. 

1. Think and act as if you are the CEO
2. Be proud of who you are
3. Never compromise your personal value
4. Know and understand your role
5. Give 110% every day
6. Keep the company of good people
7. Develop a talent for winning
8. Give back to your community
9. Engage a personal coach or mentor
10. Have fun, take time to enjoy yourself

Put these 10 tips into regular practice and you are sure to be successful in business and in life. 

I’d like to share with you a recent experience I had on United Airlines.  This message really sends it home that you never know when being environmentally irresponsible or lackadaisical can lose you a customer.

If you are someone who cares about the environment and going green you should not fly United.  Recently I was traveling from New York City to Chicago. As I was stepping onto the plane I was handed a postcard like item by the captain. The note card had a description of the 757 aircraft. It mentioned the wingspan, the size, the weight, maximum speed etc. Quite frankly, a bunch of useless facts that I highly doubt anyone cares about. Toward the end of the flight, someone announced over the PA system that we should all look at the card we received when we boarded to see if we were the lucky person to have the card with the captain’s signature on it.  If you were two of the lucky winners then ring your call button so the flight attendant could give you a bottle of wine. 

Now, my first problem with this is that there were these note cards were all over the plane.  They were on the floor, on seats, in the trash, so clearly no one cared about the facts of the plane on which we were flying.  What a waste, and I mean that literally.  What a waste of paper that is going to pollute the earth and add to the already overflowing landfills and global warming.

My second problem is with the thousands of dollars United Airlines had to have spent to produce these cards and then give away a bottle of wine.  Is that what the $15 bag check fee is for?  I personally don’t like that I have to pay $300 for a plane ticket and then pay another $15 each way to check my bag so that United can print useless cards and help to destroy our planet.

My last problem was with the flight attendant.  I rang my call button to ask if these cards were being passed out on every United flight.  She said the cards were given to the captain, and they could pass them out if they chose to.  I replied that I wanted her to know that I found it to be environmentally irresponsible for a company to pass out cards that are clearly going to go to waste and continue to pollute the Earth.  She answered me with “Well ma’am, some people just don’t care about that.”  Well I have to take from that comment that she meant that United doesn’t care about that because United is who chose to create this waste.  If they wanted to give away a bottle of wine why didn’t they just hand a random person a bottle of wine? They didn’t need to print up God knows how many hundreds of thousands of note cards that will be thrown away and add to our already environmentally troubled planet.

The point here is, being unaware or uncaring of the environment can cost you a customer.  If enough customers take that stand you adventually won’t have a business.  So be wise when running your business and be aware of the world around you (literally).

I recently had the privilege of interviewing Dr. John Demartini author of From Stress to Success. Who can’t relate to that? In this day and age where just about everyone is surrounded by stressors, wouldn’t it be nice to find a way to use that stress for something positive? Perhaps we can channel that stressful energy into our business to help get it off the ground and make it fly. Dr. Demartini has 31 useful tools and tips that can help turn your stress into success. If you apply just one a day, in 31 days you will have less stress, and more success.

The first Five Secrets of Success that Dr. Demartini outlines in his book are:

1. Write and read your goals.
2. Clear away your goals obstacles.
3. Prioritize your activities.
4. Act on top priorities.
5. Visualize your success.

There are 26 more in his book From Stress to Success

To find out more please visit his website www.drdemartini.com

Its Tuesday afternoon in Spain and we are heading to TalkRadioEurope where I am being interviewed by Hannah Murray. if you want to listen you can just go to their website or (as it is early in the states) you can request the recording.

After my interview I will be broadcasting my radio show, Now to WOW on WBLQ 96.7FM or live online at www.wblq.net. 

After that we are heading off to the spa where we will be getting our hair, nail and toes done for a party this evening.

That’s a wrap for today.
Ciao!

According to Social Media expert, Peter Shankman, the entire point and purpose of social media is to listen to your customers. You have their attention and you can find out what they want and how to they want to receive information about it.
 
At a recent event in New York City put on by American Women in Radio and Television Organization, (www.awrt.org) Shankman said there are four key elements to maximizing social media.
 
1. Transparency- Be honest and forthcoming. Lay all your cards on the table. If you screw up admit it, apologize and do better next time.
2. Relevance- Use social media to ask your clients and customers what they want. Find out how your customers want to hear about what you have to offer. Do they want you to Twitter it, email it, IM or text it? Then give the information they want, the want they want it.
3. Brevity- Shankman says that the average attention span of people today is 2.7 seconds. Therefore, you better get to the point, and get to it quickly. If you don’t grab their attention you will lose their attention, and likely their business.
4. Top of mind- How are you different? Be different and be first. Be the first person, company, product, etc, that your customers think of.
 
Social media grows your brand. It is an extension of you and your customer service. There is no better way to grow your brand than to have people recommending you and your product. The best way to do that is with social media.
 
Peter also mentioned a very cool new device called the Poken stick… check it out!
 
To find out more about Peter Shankman visit www.shankman.com
 

Sharmen Lane can take you from Now to Wow. Listen to this to find out how to empower yourself.

By inspirational speaker, author and radio host, Sharmen Lane