The Glass House US Premier on Sundance Channel

Catch the US premier of The Glass House tonight at 9:00 PM CST on the Sundance Channel! A documentary well worth seeing!

Love and Peace!

Sandy

The Glass House wins Best Documentary at the Dallas VideoFest!

Just a quick update on The Glass House Dallas premier that happened this past weekend.  First, WOW!  It was a great time, great movies and lots of fun. Thanks to Bart and his staff for giving us a wonderful weekend of movies! Oh, and photos will be posted later this week, so be sure and check back.

The film (The Glass House) premiered on Sunday at 2:15.  My mom, Marie Hibbard, and sister Leisa Speegle drove in from Oklahoma City to be there and my cousins, Sherrie Williams,   Janice Wilbanks and Laura Terrell came in from several areas of the Metroplex to support Melissa and Hamid’s film.  My daughter Sarah Sellers and her hubby Matt were also there to see the film for the first time.  Obviously, we are proud of our family of filmakers!

I had tons of positive comments and some good questions from the audience about the documentary process.  The film and the stories of the girls had a very positive impact on all that saw it.

A special shout out to my friends and business associates who attended – Steve and Tony from Gold’s Gym and my dear friend Kadena Tate Simon and old pal Randy Jeter – thanks for “answering the call” and coming out for the day to support the film!  Love love to all!

The evening ended around ten after the Texas round of movies (so entertaining!) and the awards for the movies were announced.  I was proud to be able to accept for Melissa and Hamid the award for Best Documentary… I pretended I was at the Academy Awards, well…not really, but it did cross my mind!

Thanks again to everyone for coming out to support The Glass House.  Please pass the word that The Glass House will have it’s US Television premier on November 16 at 9:00 on the Sundance Channel.    Yea!

Love and Peace,

Sandy

The Glass House Premieres

The Glass House finally comes to Dallas. Join me this Sunday at the Angelika Theater in Dallas (Mockingbird Station) at 2:15 for the premier of this moving documentary that breaks cultural and racial barriers.

With a virtually invisible camera, The Glass House takes us on a never-before-seen tour of the underclass of Iran. This groundbreaking documentary reflects a side of Iran few have access to. It introduces us to a group of courageous women working to instill a sense of empowerment and hope into the lives of otherwise discarded teenage girls.

Melissa Hibbard (my niece) and her hubby Hamid Rahmanian, are the film makers of the award winning documentary film The Glass House. Melissa wrote and produced and Hamid directed the movie. For more info and to see a clip of the film, go to http://www.fictionvillestudio.com/. THE GLASS HOUSE recently won the OSCE HUman Right Award at Docufest, 2009.

Watch the trailer here.

3 Ways to Leverage the Internet in Your Personal Marketing

Today there are more options for marketing your business than ever before.  This age of connectivity has also brought with it the age of confusion for some who are overwhelmed with all the choices.  But don’t let it get the best of you.  If you will choose three things to CHANGE in your marketing, or three things to START in your marketing, you can come out a winner.

Now, there are more than three ways to leverage the Internet in your personal marketing, but for simplicity sake, I am going to cover the three things that I feel are important enough to put at the top of your marketing list.  Are you ready?  And remember, that any marketing initiative must follow a well thought out plan and assessment of your time, imagination and budget…

From print ads to Twitter tweets and Facebook faceoffs – Diversity in Marketing is Queen!

Marketing “Lifestyles”

In this day and time, in our businesses we are all looking for “the one thing”.  That one tool or product that will get our marketing done, bring us prospects, make the sale, clean our house, make us happy….I could go on.  The problem with that concept is that in a diverse business market, there is MORE than just ONE way.  There are MANY.  Many ways to get leads, to market your product, to brand your business, to be happy, to be entertained…get the idea?

I want to talk to you about diversity in your marketing.  Just like there are many types of customers out there, there are also many ways to reach them.  The failure to reach your customer might be in the method you are using.  Look at your market segment.  Are they boomers?  Are they just out of college?  Where do they live?  Country?  City?  Uptown?  Suburbs?  Believe it or not, where your prospect lives tells a big story about their lifestyle and their preferences when it comes to how they make their purchases and how they communicate.

In executing a marketing plan, it is important to be as diverse as the market you serve.  Do not put all your eggs in one basket!  Spread your marketing message out over a number of marketing venues:  social networking, email, print, sponsorships, and good old-fashioned call phones to set up a lunch or one-on-one.  There is business waiting for you in all types of marketing.  Depending upon your target market, you may want to focus on social networking to build relationships, or you may want to use the US Mail to deliver nice business letters offering your services.  You have to know your customer.

Going GREEN in your Marketing using Social Networking: Twitter Facebook Plaxo and LinkedIn

Go GREEN in your Marketing

Going GREEN in your Marketing is more than not wasting paper! It’s about using the resources that are available that saves you time and money. It’s using online systems.

The first thing I think about when I think “GREEN” (other than the lush landscape you would expect to see in Switzerland or New Zealand) is saving energy, lowering my consumption of energy and being kind to our planet. Expanding that thought is to think GREEN in our businesses – and what better green to conserve than our dollars and our time that is worth money!

Today we are witnessing the restructuring of traditional marketing and advertising methods in business.  There are some companies that are holding on tight to old methods, but I am afraid these methods are ending.  The consumer is online, for everything.  Taking our marketing online to be found by our target audience should be the #1 priority in our business and marketing plans.

So, how do we go GREEN in our marketing?

NEW PICS: 10-Photo Challenge Using my iPhone

I was in the mood for some creativity this long holiday weekend so in follow up to my Labor Day 10-Photo Challenge using your iPhone or mobile device, here are my results.  Tonight’s the deadline, so here we go!  Let me know your thoughts…peace and love – Sandy

Labor Day Photographic Assignment – 10-Photo Challenge

Taken in garage with iPhone - love the color!

Let’s forget politics, marketing deadlines, business plans and money for a minute and put our creative eyes to work over this long Labor Day weekend!  Join me for another 10-photo challenge, originally inspired by Chase Jarvis, photographer extraordinaire!

Here’s how it works:  Using your iphone or other mobile phone camera, take 10 photos within 10 meters of you.  Look for the detail, the color, texture, whatever inspires you  in the common or not-so-common things that surround you – whether you are at home watching football, by the pool, or travelling to an exotic destination!  Take a zillion photos then choose the best 10.  Then post them to your favorite photo hosting page – photobucket, smugmug, twitpix -  or upload to your Facebook  account or blog.  Be sure to “share” the link to the photos  via Facebook,  Twitter, Digg, and any other social networking site you are a member of.  DEADLINE:  have the photos up Monday evening.

Let’s look for the beauty that is around us and share it!  Spread the love!

Have fun!

Sandy

Boldly Build Your Way to Business Success

I wanted to share another business building article, this one is compliments of Ali Brown, marketing guru and coach.   An unstinting faith in her own ability and destiny has helped Ali Brown become one of the most successful female entrepreneurs of her generation. As founder and CEO of Ali International, LLC, a company which was recently named to the 2009 *Inc 500*, an exclusive ranking of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies, she has created a dynamic multimillion dollar enterprise that is devoted to empowering women around the world. Through the power of entrepreneurship Ali helps close to 40,000 members start and grow their own businesses.

I started following Ali Brown back in 2005 and have had the privilege of watching her business grow over this time to one of the fastest growing private companies in the nation!  When Ali speaks I listen.  I have learned more from her ezines and telecalls than from any other marketing coach.  I highly recommend her and encourage you to sign up for her weekly “Spotlight” ezine, the link is at the bottom of the article.  Enjoy the article and feel free to leave your comments.

The Building Blocks of Social Media for Business

SEPTEMBER 1, 2009  – Article by Chris Brogan, Community and Social Media

Where do you start? That’s the question I get often when I’m asked how to help a company market using social media tools. The people who contact me are smart. They tell me things like, “Yeah, they said we should start with a blog, and we said, ‘like the blog we already have?’” But what comes next is rarely a simple choice. I wanted to take you through some thoughts on what the basic building blocks of social media might be for a business (in the context of marketing, but then stretching a bit further out).

Remember, roadmaps don’t work really well until you have a solid goal or destination in mind. None of this matters unless it feels right to you, regardless of my advice. You know your company’s boundaries. You know what your comfort levels are. Proceed at your organizational pace.

Grow Bigger Ears

Most social media plans start with how you can talk. I prefer to start with listening. We learn more by listening (all salespeople know this, as do animals). We hear what people are saying. We can learn the cadence of a place. Want to start out in social media? Grow bigger ears.