Bluebird shares Personal insights

This is what they are writing about me. Living with me day in and day out as I do I wonder what happened to all the bits about me working really really hard to achieve the success I have or about the times I had to make up a birthday party in 2 minutes so my kids didn't know I had been working til the last minute and forgotten to do what I should . . . but instead of disappointing them I made them the best birthday ever, seemed planned and all . . . I think they should include those successes as well! Anyway, let me know what you think!!

 

About Kim Power Stilson:

Kim Power Stilson has helped over 50,000 small and women-owned businesses promote their products and services online. As an award-winning pioneer of Internet Talk Radio and a social media and Internet marketing strategist, she has authored several marketing guides, is a weekly talk radio host, and founder of Power Strategies, Inc. A dual citizen, Kim divides her time between California, Utah & Ireland. She has 4 dogs, 3 kids, 2 birds and a cat. Her husband is a very patient man.

Her Marketing Success:

With a degree in communication, Kim worked in Japan, New York, California until offered an executive position in Utah to get Robert F. Bennett elected to the United States Senate. After an unbelievable campaign success, Kim successfully promoted technology companies around the globe until she discovered that processes in the short-time line of a political campaign combined with marketing strategy created a business application that delivered marketing and sales results faster and on drastically reduced budget. Kim created Make, Bake, Shake, Rake & Fresh© a duplicatable marketing strategy that now has delivered time-cutting and award-winning campaigns to national and international audiences for at 60% savings over costs, with an 140% increase in name awareness and delivering ordered sales of over $150 million.

Kim founded Power Strategies, Inc., and designed a laser target marketing strategy to help companies reach the world's largest consumer group, women. She pioneered one of the first Internet Talk Radio Networks and has since helped over 120,000 people share their messages online. Now a proclaimed Social Media, PR, Web & Internet Marketing Strategies Company providing Education, Marketing Consultation and Public Relations Services since 2000, Power Stilson just made her MBSR&F strategy openly available to the public through her new book "24 Hours to Zero Down Marketing."

Her Shared Wealth:

Kim Power Stilson is the author of "24 Hours to Zero Down Marketing"
Strategy Guide and Workbook and "Get Online and . . . Blog, Ping, Pod, Stream, Bookmark, Blast, Release, Wiki, Widget, Web, Link, Avatar, Tag & Twitter! What is it and how do I do it?" An Education Guide to the Internet, the World Wide Web and Online Social Media Communications! And this fall, "Women Buy Everything".
Kim is the co-author of the new guide, "Putting a face and voice on your Website = Dollars! A profitable guide to Internet Radio & TV Advertising" and instigator of The 24 Challenge, a $1 per strategic marketing tip monthly service with 200% success guarantee. www.powerstratgies.TV.

Her radio shows:

The host for seven years of the Healthy Wealthy Wow (terrestrial and Internet syndicated) on the Grapevine Talk Radio Network, Kim is the new Internet talk radio, host of "Fresh Success radio!" on Planetary Streams (Log on and listen at www.planetarystreams.com) and "Power Strategies . . . Market your business to better bottom line!" talk radio show on the resource aggregator , MyExpertSolution.com.

Her Loves:

Kim is the founder of the Bluebird Sisterhood and sits on the board of The Foundation House. January 2008 she decided to give up the executive 80 hour work week at the office in favor of working from home to be near her kids. She says that believe it or not, there is a lot of money to be made while having a balanced life.

Kim loves to watercolor, play tennis, snow ski, write, and be near the sea. A dual citizen, Kim divides her time between California, Utah & Ireland. She really does have 4 dogs, 3 kids, 2 birds and a cat. Her husband is a very patient man, a former cop, founder of Planetary Streams, Inc. and a pilot who flys of the house every chance he gets!

About Power Strategies, Inc:

Power Strategies is a Social Media, PR, Web & Internet Marketing Strategies Company providing Education, Marketing Consultation and Public Relations Services to women and family owned businesses and corporations in the United States and Ireland. Please visit at www.PowerStrategies.TV and feel free to contact Kim Power Stilson at kim@powerstrategies.TV.

Bluebird ponders success and failure

What makes the difference between a successful business and one that you pour years, your money, your soul and your family's soul into only to become another business failure statistic in 2-5 years? Why do some people work like we do, out of the garage, basement or dining room, and end up a "million billionaires", while you end up losing your house?

Why? My company had its shining moments, we had a good product/service and, in fact, the first four or so years showed we were headed for success. So, what happened? As much as I hate to ask why and less like to face the answers, I discovered the answer, the secret, the key to success while face down in the mud.

It was the day after we had to close the business and my world was dark. Winter was turning slowly to spring and by that I mean the 8 foot wall of grey ice next to our driveway was finally beginning to melt. I had read every "power of positive thinking" book out there and some twice while trying to convince myself that there was a silver lining. I kept asking myself why I had failed. All comparisons to Edison's 6,000+ light bulb tries failed to cheer me up. I was supposed to be successful. I had watched others succeed and had confidentially joked with them that I would invite them to my castle in Ireland someday. Now, my hopes for someday seemed to be "never-ever day." What had I missed? The answer would not come and the pain of failure was sharp making it difficult to even breathe.

I did what a lot of people do when they need to think. I decided to go for a walk. After all, I had no business to claim my time and nothing else to do. I walked along seeing the beauty of the mountains forcing myself to be grateful. Look at the positive side; I said to myself, finally after years of working 70 hours a week now at least I had time to take a walk.

Suddenly, as if the world dropped off in front of my feet I fell, face down into a pool of post-thaw snow mud. I just lied there in the mud and wondered why I should get up. When I was finished feeling sorry for myself and grieving my lost business I suddenly knew why I had failed. It hit me right there in the mud exactly what the one strategy of success we had neglected which had caused the lack of success, the failure. It was embarrassing. We had a good product/service but it all had come down not doing this one thing. I had gotten so busy that I had forgotten, put off, not placed the importance into "marketing" my product/service. How many years had I wasted in doing the efforts of business only to find at the end that my product/service was worthless when not sold into the hands of consumers? If consumers did not know about my product then I wasn't selling and if my product wasn't selling than I did not have a business. Like me, I thought, as I started extricating myself from the tear and snow laden mud, with no business.

How I fell In Love!

I am guest blogging for Kim today- Hope you Enjoy!

-Debbie

I have to say that I have never really been impressed by dogs. Growing up, the oldest of 10, we have a fair share of animals running in and out of the house. Most of them came to their doom when my dad (Seeing that all 10 of his children were not responsible and/or selfish) would find some place for them to go (we still wonder if he really took the baby hamsters to the Chinese Restaurant down the street). So with this mentality I never bonded with dogs and thought they were just big mess makers (Especially when you tried to step in a backyard of a dog owners house. I remember last year when our neighbors got a dog and my 4 year old stepped in the dog poop, walked into our house, and then stepped on my expensive oriental area rug smearing the mess everywhere). So dogs just put a bad taste in my mouth...

That is until I met Sam, he is an Irish wolfhound and I have to confess, I think I have fallen in love. He is a giant dog, just huge, and I met him last week. He just came right up to me and bowed at my feet... then he started to lick my toes. He is SO tall that my Emma, who is 2, can walk right under him. He has such a good personality and I can see now how people can fall in love with their animals. I don't own him, just think about him and his long tongue and stingy hair. There are also these adorable Irish Wolfhound babies, that I think I am going to have to have. There is a runt with a way-ward eye, oh my, all my will was holding me back from scooping up that puppy and taking it home right away. I am such a sucker for adorable animals! We did eventually have to leave my new found loves, so I went home and looked everything I could up on the internet. I have already mapped areas out in my backyard to see if we could get one… and the odds are for us!

Now my entire aspect of dogs has changed. I think I have always secretly been a dog person waiting for the right dog to show me what I have been missing. So to all those anti-dog bloggers beware, if you every meet Sam or his nephews you are in trouble of falling in love.

Bluebird Daughter Returns!

One week away from me and our nest and I hurried up to Trefoil Ranch to pick up my little Girl Scout daughter Saturday morning. I was so excited to see her, I had missed her. The house was quiet with one of the girls missing and there was way less fighting with her 8-year-old brother. When I arrived, I waited in a long car line with other anxious parents. It was a beautiful summer morning and the air was wonderful – well, except for the smoker guy standing by his car in front of me!) Anyway, I finally reach the camp, spot my daughter and shout hello and reach out to grab her for a hug. She tolerates the hug, says a limp "hi Mom" and then proceeds to tearfully say goodbye to hundreds of friends with nicknames like bubble gum, peanut and solar galaxy. She is not even excited to see me and in fact misses camp almost the entire drive home evidenced by her not speaking to me and her answering in one syllable! (til she was hungry and asked me to stop for her bite of "real" food in a week!) So, very fun! I guessed she has crossed into teenager-hood with her older sister . . . nary to return until they have families of their own and need me to babysit! Ah well, anyone have any suggestions? My heart is so sad?

Bluebird son takes her camping!

and lives to tell about it!  14 hours alone at our camping site with my son last week.  I promised myself I would focus on him -- no cell phone, no computer, no one and nothing but him.  I decided to do everything and anything he asked of me.  At home this usually includes a ride to his friend's house, pudding and lunch!  At camping, alone in the wilderness (with our fully outfitted trailer) it included the following hair raising and not for 40 year old women activities!

Climbing a log across a 20 foot raging creek! (okay not so raging but deep!)

hiking up and sliding down through overgrown bushes, spider and possibly snake infested "Dirt Hill"

Building a cross bow from tree branches

Making a fire and eating a hot dog (okay, turkey dog, but still!)

playing tic tac toe with branches in the dirt

watching the path of some very odd looking bugs

a dip into the creek when crossing the branch for the 5th time

mud-caked shoes, pants, crevices

At hour 14 when my husband and other kids had not yet returned to the trailer, I finally asked my son if we could do one thing Mommy wanted to do and he said yes.

So I asked if I could take a 20 minute nap, in the trailer, without the bugs, and he said okay but that he would be "bored."

I woke up a half an hour later to find my dirt covered son sound asleep next to me, dirty clothes, shoes, cross bow and all on the trailer bed.  He slept for another hour while I watched him amazed that he was more tired than I  . . .

and then we each had a Jello pudding snack.

Bluebirds know something we didn’t know before!

Today, after a week of trauma, puppy deaths, kids out for summer, on and on, I accomplished something I am proud of. Many of my friends, my family, my clients needed to know something they didn't know, and I helped them with that. The news is below, but I am so happy to have accomplished something grand despite all the demands and tools life takes of us. I hope this Internet, Web and Online Social Communications Guide will help people successfully compete online. I know it helped me, and I know I needed to know what I did not!

 

The world is out there filled with people who like to define us as humans, I can only really attempt to define myself. I needed to know this and know I know what I know but there is more to learn, more to know, more to come. I hope someone out there agrees but you know it does not really matter. As long as I am happy and those I care about our happy.

 

To the ten friends so far who have learned something, and love it, thank you! This is a landmark day for me, one I hope my kids, my dogs, birds, cats, siblings and friends will smile about. Kim Power Stilson

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

Blog? Ping? Pod?

Kim Power Stilson, A mom with 4 dogs, 3 kids, 2 birds and a cat

& Debbie Cluff, a zany little lady from Pasadena help Momprenuers

Unlock the mystery to the Internet, the Web and Social Media Tools with Power Strategies Education!

 

 

June 17, 2008, 2008— Pasadena, CA & Salt Lake City, UT – Kim Power Stilson and Debbie Cluff partner with Planetary Streams and today announce the release of:

Get online and Blog, Ping, Pod, Stream, Bookmark, Blast, Release,

Wiki, Widget, Web, Link, Avatar, Tag & Twitter!

What is it and how do I do it?

An Education Guide to the Internet, the World Wide Web

and Online Social Media Communications!

This guide is available online and in a social media education training package on www.planetarystreams.com and www.powerstrategies.TV.

 

Two work-at-home moms, both with hectic lives, decided life would be easier if they figured out how to succeed online like the Pro-bloggers and other online businesses. They made two discoveries. First, there was a lot they did not know, like what is a Wiki and Twitter. Second, they realized it wasn't as intimidating as it sounded. They shared the information with their friends and other entrepreneurs who all insisted they needed it all down in a guidebook. So, Kim collaborated with Debbie to research, write and present: Get online and Blog, Ping, Pod, Stream, Bookmark, Blast, Release, Wiki, Widget, Web, Link, Avatar, Tag & Twitter! What is it and how do I do it? An Education Guide to the Internet, the World Wide Web and Online Social Media Communications!

 

According to Kim Power Stilson, marketing strategist, the guide combined with her new 24 Hours to Zero Down Marketing Strategy Guide & Workbook is the culmination of 17 years of hard work, marketing while raising kids, dogs, etc. She believes the Internet and World Wide Web are a tremendous convenience for working moms, single parents and small businesses.

 

"Life online is easier! I'm positive they invented the Internet and World Wide Web for busy women," says Kim. "Everything I need to do, purchase, sell and find is all online! How convenient is that? I wanted everyone to know how to use the offerings and tool available online!"

 

According to Debbie Cluff, mother of three and master educator, founder of Links for Learning, having an online tutoring business inspired her to help women and parents find a comfortable way to use online tools to their advantage. She sees that working, playing and learning online brings convenience and success and most moms, parents and people need that benefit.

 

"We could totally see us on the Ellen Show helping all the women in the world learn how to blog, ping, pod, etc., and we loved the idea of women using this knowledge to get better jobs, work from home, and succeed online," said Debbie. "As an educator I thought it would be fun to teach something everyone wants and needs to learn!"

 

The Guide, Get online and Blog, Ping, Pod, Stream, Bookmark, Blast, Release, Wiki, Widget, Web, Link, Avatar, Tag & Twitter! What is it and how do I do it? An Education Guide to the Internet, the World Wide Web and Online Social Media Communications! is offered in an online PDF version, as well as, a robust video, audio, Internet, Web, Social Media & Marketing certified education course. (Prices range from $240 - $2400 with certification. Huge Discounts for women, single parents and small businesses. Get your guide at www.planetarystreams.com and www.powerstrategies.TV) For Free Media trial contact: Jack Brian or Anne Roberts Jack@powerstrategies.TV or anne@powerstrategies.com or 801-473-9174.

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About Kim Power Stilson:

Founder of Power Strategies, Inc., Kim Power Stilson, is the author of Women Buy Everything (Fall 2008) 24 Hours to Zero Down Marketing Strategy Guide and Workbook and Get online Blog, Ping, Pod, Stream, Bookmark, Blast, Release, Wiki, Widget, Web, Link, Avatar, Tag and Twitter!  What is it and how do I do it?

Kim is the weekly Internet talk radio host of "My Best Friends are Dogs and Bloggers" and "Women Buy Everything" radio shows on Planetary Streams (Log on and listen at www.planetarystreams.com )  and the founder of the Bluebird Sisterhood.  She really does have 4 dogs, 3 kids, 2 birds and 1 cat and a very patient husband. She loves to watercolor, play tennis, snow ski and be near the sea. She divides her time between California, Utah & Ireland. She blogs at www.bluebirdsisterhood.blogspot.com & www.twitter.com, www.mybestfriendsaredogsandbloggers.wordpress.com.

 

About Debbie Cluff:

Debbie Cluff is the CEO of Links for Learning, Online Coaching and Instant Homework Help. She was born and raised in South Pasadena, California, USA. Debbie has taught in both the home and the classroom and has her Masters in Reading and Writing at the Elementary School Level. She is a reading specialist and an author. She has written over a dozen articles for online publications and has been a contributing author to such online companies as, earticle.com and ezine.com. Her first book 7 Easy Ways to Help Your Student Succeed: How Ordinary Parents can Make Extraordinary Students, can be purchased or downloaded free directly from her website, www.links-for-learning.com.

Debbie hosts two weekly talk radio shows on Planetary Streams called "The Debbie Cluff Show" and "Women Buy Everything" you can listen by logging on to www.planetarystreams.com.

Debbie loves to read any books. Her favorite books are anything by Mary Higgins Clark and Jane Austin. Debbie resides in South Pasadena, California with her husband and three children. She would LOVE to hear from you and your personal educational stories, please contact her directly at debbie@links-for-learning.com.

 

ABOUT PLANETARY STREAMS:

Planetary Streams International, a Social Media Communications Company, provides internet Radio & TV communications solutions for companies and individuals around the globe. Launched February 2008 to meet the growing demands of audio and visual delivery on the internet, PSI operates globally from the "Broadcast Barn" in Woodland Hills using proprietary technology connects to deliver marketing messages from individuals and companies. Please visit www.planetarystreams.com, or call Chad Stilson at chad@planetarystreams.com or contact Jack at 801-473-9174.

Bluebird Sister Markets in 24 Hours!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

Kim Power Stilson Launches 24 Hours to Zero Down Marketing Strategy Guide for Companies Who Want to Succeed!

 

June 13, 2008, 2008—Salt Lake City, UT & Dunmore East, Ireland – Kim Power Stilson, announced today, the release of her new marketing strategy training guide and workbook, 24 Hours to Zero Down Marketing Strategy Guide and Workbook. This guide is available online and in a social media education training package on www.powerstratgies.TV.

 

As soon as they found out she had her own marketing company, people would ask Kim for suggestions on how to spread the word about their product/services. Based on a success-proven strategy, Make, Bake, Shake, Rake & Fresh, created with 17 years of marketing success, Kim would suggest first creating a strategy or plan based on goals and then applying regular efforts to achieve name awareness and sales success.

 

Most small companies could not afford her or other marketing professionals consultation fees ($30,000 strategy creation fee and monthly service fee $5 -10,000 per month) but they still needed the help and she wanted to assist them because she believes that marketing or not marketing a product/service makes the difference between success and failure. She was inspired to write this step-by-step guide and which gave the power back to the company owners with marketing knowledge at a budget-

worthy cost.

 

"Once you have a plan, a strategy and you know what you need to do then you run out of excuses to not take the time to market and sell," said Kim Power Stilson. "With each marketing effort company owners gain a little more success. With consistent efforts like even 24 hours a month focused on marketing, they will see real results in the areas of increased name awareness and sales."

 

According to Kim Power Stilson, this is a great strategy guide for business owners and employees who want to impress their boss by helping their company increase their chances for sales. "You may have a great product but if consumers don't know about it they can't buy it," said Power Stilson. "Online and traditional Marketing is an essential component to business success. Entrepreneurs and small business sometimes overlook marketing because they don't have the resources to hire someone and most don't have the time to do it themselves. Now they can be doing effective marketing in just 24 Hours for a fraction of the cost."

 

To make marketing affordable, Power Strategies offers a "Monthly Marketing Service – 24 Hours" style to help companies keep marketing once they have a strategy. The service includes Live chat, Social Media, Internet, PR 2.0 and Web 3.0 & Marketing instruction, tips, templates & advice from Social Media & Marketing Strategist Kim Power Stilson. (Prices range from $240 per month to a discounted cost for women, small-business owners and single parents of $24 per month.)

 

24 Hours to Zero Down Marketing Strategy Guide & Workbook is offered in an online PDF version, as well as, a robust video, audio, Internet, Web, Social Media & Marketing certified education course. (Prices range from $240 - $2400 with certification.) For Free Media trial contact: Jack Brian or Anne Roberts Jack@powerstrategies.TV or anne@powerstrategies.com or 801-473-9174.

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About Kim Power Stilson:

Founder of Power Strategies, Inc., Kim Power Stilson, is the author of Women Buy Everything (Fall 2008) 24 Hours to Zero Down Marketing Strategy Guide and Workbook and Get online
Blog, Ping, Pod, Stream, Bookmark, Blast, Release, Wiki, Widget, Web, Link, Avatar, Tag and Twitter!  What is it and how do I do it?

Kim is the weekly Internet talk radio host of "My Best Friends are Dogs and Bloggers" and "Women Buy Everything" radio shows on Planetary Streams (Log on and listen at www.planetarystreams.com )  and the founder of the Bluebird Sisterhood.  She really does have 4 dogs, 3 kids, 2 birds and 1 cat and a very patient husband. She loves to watercolor, play tennis, snow ski and be near the sea. She divides her time between California, Utah & Ireland. She blogs at www.bluebirdsisterhood.blogspot.com & www.twitter.com, www.mybestfriendsaredogsandbloggers.wordpress.com.

Her professional marketing background includes over 17 years experience and a proven track record of success. She has created marketing positioning campaigns based on her own copyrighted Make, Bake, Shake, Rake & Fresh marketing strategy to build name awareness and speed up the sales process hundreds of companies delivering award-winning campaigns to national and international audiences for at 60% savings over costs, with an 140% increase in name awareness and delivering ordered sales of $50 million plus.

 

About Power Strategies, Inc:

Power Strategies is a Social Media, PR, Web & Internet Marketing Strategies Company providing Education, Marketing Consultation and Public Relations Services to women and family owned businesses and corporations in the United States and Ireland. www.powerstrategies.TV

 

 

About the Power Strategies Education Courses:

The "Power Strategies Internet, Web and Social Media & Marketing Strategy Education" includes 24 education sessions, 3 education courses, 32 learning components and one 24-hour workbook all Online to get you certified and marketing at your own pace in 24 hours to 24 weeks: 

1. Internet, Web & Social Media Training --  Learn Social Media, Internet and Web tools like Blog, Ping, Pod, Stream, Bookmark, Blast, Release, Wiki, Widget, Web, Link, Avatar, Tag & Twitter!  Includes EBook, Audio / Video training.
   
2. Marketing Strategy –Create and implement a traditional, Internet and Web marketing strategy for you, your company, and your products/services. Includes 24ZDM guide and workbook along with Audio / Video training.
   
3. Education Sessions – 24 Internet, Web and Social Media personal LIVE 15 minute educations sessions (powered by Links-for-Learning.com) online at your convenience.  Ask questions and get answers from a "live" marketing coach.
   

*Certification in "Power Strategies Internet, Web and Social Media & Marketing Strategy Education"  through this robust online course will give you the ability to create a traditional and Internet marketing strategy and the understanding to communicate on the Web with social media tools. Graduate from this course with Certification in Social Media, Internet Marketing and Marketing Strategy.  

Women, Single Parent and / or Small Business Owner Subsidized Discount Price - $2400* Corporate Price - $10,000*

BONUS WITH EDUCATION PURCHASE: Monthly Marketing Service - 24 Hour Style
24 hours each month with Includes: Live chat, Social Media, Internet, PR 2.0 and Web 3.0 & Marketing instruction, tips, templates & advice from Social Media & Marketing Strategist Kim Power Stilson.

See Bluebird Irish wolfhound Puppies

See our 8 beautiful Irish Wolfhound Puppies and their lovely mom Daisy at www.planetarystreams.com. Look under Snack TV "How to" Love your puppies! My kids are there too, how fun! Kim Power Stilson

Bluebird Learning the Essential

The Internet and World Wide Web give us so many opportunities to communicate and connect to people previously unreachable at all ends of the earth. Communication on the Internet and World Wide Web is essential in everything we do from the social aspects to promoting a successful business. Why would anyone ever put off learning something so essential just because it's new and unknown? Even more than the knowing how to use the microwave, which I feel was fairly essential to eating regularly in college, 'getting the hang of" the Internet and the World Wide Web gives amazing, informative, and lucrative opportunities for those who embrace it.

Most of us are not educated in how to use the Online World to our personal and professional advantage. People who are able to successfully navigate online will not easily give away the secrets to how this is done. Yet, I have always felt the first step in becoming a great, is to gain education in all areas of what you want to achieve. In order to connect to the online world, you are going to have to educate yourself, as Debbie would say, in the 5 W's which are Who, Where, What, When, and Why of this Internet and World Wide Web.

This guide was written from the perspective of a journey of how my grandma and I would have figured out this together. It's not technical and it may not be perfectly accurate yet because I wanted to learn enough to successful on the Internet and World Wide Web and leave the blank stares behind me forever, it works. So, even though I can't build a website I do know what to ask for and expect when I contract with someone to build one for me. I don't know as much as a "Problogger" (a professional blogger who makes money through the site he/she blogs) but I can talk intelligently with one. Probloggers seem to have the world by a string, but I have not read a Problogger yet who could have out blogged my grandma had she been around to blog today.

Kim Power Stilson as seen on www.powerstrategies.TV and www.planetarystreams.com

Bluebird Sister loves Social Media

I could blame being an overwhelmed hard-working mother of 4 dogs, 3 kids, 2 birds and a cat for one of the reasons I wasn't up on terms like Social Media, Live Web, and Widgets but there are a few women with the same description above perhaps with a few less pets who make millions of dollars every year knowing all the above. That's right millions.

The Internet and the World Wide Web are not some deep dark mysterious secret that you need a key or a brilliant brain to unlock, though some of the articles you have seen may seem to be written in another language, it's simply a lot of new information and new information when you already have a lot on your plate can be overwhelming.

If you secretly wonder what a blog is then you are not alone. My good friend Kristen Lamb, co-founder of Planetary Streams International, a Social Media and Marketing company likes to say, "You don't know what you don't know!" Like my grandma and the microwave, her grandma and the TV and me and my iPod, we won't know until we ask for help. People brave enough to admit they have no idea what a blog or ping or any of the above in the title are the ones who get to reap the rewards.

I wanted the answers and needed the resources so I started asking questions. I discovered that some people understood it all and some understood it very little. The ones who knew it all often lacked the patience or the time to explain in a way I could understand. Overall, I gave and got more blank stares than an entire class room of Algebra students before I finally just decided to figure it out myself. That's when I decided to talk to the best teacher I know, Debbie Cluff. She is truly a "zany" little lady and a master educator, born and raised in Pasadena, California, who seems to have a knack for turning the complex into an elementary

Bluebird Puppies are Here!

Since 3 or so this morning we have been having Irish Wolfhound puppies every 45 minutes! Wow, Mom, Daisy is doing fine and all puppies seem healthy. What a way to begin summer vacation! I will post photos on the www.planetarystreams.com Snack TV section as soon as I can get them posted. J Kim Power Stilson

Bluebird Having Puppies

My sweet Irish Wolfhound Daisy (mate of Lucky who passed away in April) is having puppies! I am so excited! I will post video on www.planetarystreams.com under Snack TV "How to Have puppies" soon – very soon! Thanks for all your support and pray for us—kim power stilson

Bluebirds Friends Have Great News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

Utah Internet Education Companies Partner with Social Communications Company to Give People Access to World's Experts from One Location on the Web

 

May 29, 2008—Salt Lake City, UT – Planetary Streams International Announces Partnership with founders of CareerStep.com and GrowthClimate.com to Extend new company "My Expert Solution.com" to People through Social Media Tools. New offering will bring jobs to local area and affordable audio and visual relationship resources solutions to people across the globe.

 

MyExpertSolutions.com is a site which allows users to submit a question and get an expert response within 24 hours in the areas of relationships, health, finance, education and more. Nationally recognized online education and communication experts have come together to provide MyExpertSolutions.com, including; award-winning founders of CareerStep.com Andrea and Gene Anaya; GrowthClimate founders, nationally acknowledged author, therapist, Dr. Kevin Skinner and author and radio host, Kristen Lamb and for social media tools, CEO of Planetary Streams, social communications strategist, Chad Stilson.

 

MyExpertSolution.com will allow access to the world's experts through an online offering launching July 2008 in Utah, August 1^st nationally and September 1^st in Europe.

 

Andrea Anaya and Gene Anaya, founders of Careerstep.com, a leading , the nation's leading medical transcription and online training, Ernst & Young Regional finalists 2007 and the fastest growing companies in Utah, are proud to partner with Planetary Streams, a Social Media Communications Company, to give My ExpertSolution.com and its experts a face and voice on the Internet.

 

"I think it's a fabulous idea to give people online tools and an opportunity for building better relationships and lives," said Andrea Anaya. "MyExpertSolution.com is pleased to partner with Planetary Streams to offer these solutions."

 

According to Kristen Lamb, newly appointed CEO My Expert Solutions, they have partnered with Planetary Streams because of their ability to quickly resonate to the online masses in the most-cost effective manner.

 

"We needed to offer a connection between experts and those who need their advice and we chose Planetary Streams because of their ability to extend our message in a powerful way across the Internet," said Lamb. "Their social media tools will allow our experts to have a face and voice in countries across the world."

 

Planetary Streams is pleased to power My Expert Solution's social communications offerings including radio, TV and blogging.

 

"MyExpertSolution.com will be an invaluable resource to individuals who need answers quickly and sharing via the Internet and its myriad of communications tools is a smart delivery match. There is so much information on the World Wide Web that having one place to visit for answers from the world's experts will be crucial to users."

 

Planetary Streams International, a Social Media Communications Company, provides internet Radio & TV communications solutions for companies and individuals around the globe. Launched February 2008 to meet the growing demands of audio and visual delivery on the internet, PSI operates globally from the "Broadcast Barn" in Woodland Hills using proprietary technology connects to deliver marketing messages from individuals and companies. Please visit www.planetarystreams.com, or call Chad Stilson at chad@planetarystreams.com or call at 801-473-9211.

 

News contact: Kim Power www.powerstrategies.TV or 801-473-9174.

 

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ABOUT MY EXPERT SOLUTIONS:

MyExpertSolutions.com is your resource for answers with assembled experts ready online to help you when you need answers. Users can submit their question about anything from education, finance, health and relationships and experts in those fields will share an online answer in 24 hours. MyExpertSolutions.com will be nationally available online at www.myexpertsolutions.com in August 2008. For more information please contact Kristen at 801-420-5812.

ABOUT CAREERSTEP:

Career Step is the nation's leading provider of online medical transcription and medical coding training. Career Step enjoys a tremendous market advantage in the industry by virtue of its reputation as an innovative, competency-based training company. Career Step is committed to seeing each enrolling student graduate and successfully transition to a rewarding career. Career Step has been in business for over fifteen years and is headquartered in Springville, Utah.

Each year, for the past seven years, Career Step has been recognized as one of the fastest growing companies in the state of Utah by the Mountain West Capital Network. Career Step was additionally the 335th fastest growing privately-held business in the country, according to Inc. Magazine. www.careerstep.com

ABOUT GROWTHCLIMATE:

GrowthClimate is a leader in online relationship education offering training to 125,000+ individuals, couples, families and businesses across the world. GrowthClimate® assists individuals who have lost connection with their instincts teaching them how to turn them back on again. A national research study done in our public schools found that "creativity in children is largely destroyed by the second grade." More accurately said, in a world where children become fearful, their creativity is diverted toward survival rather than growth. Reconnect children and adults with their instincts, and their inborn creativity turns back on! Give them understanding of their world, and the power to not only survive it, but also to change it. Creative genius makes individuals tremendous contributors to families, businesses, and to any group or organization of which they are a part. www.growthclimate.com.

ABOUT PLANETARY STREAMS:

Planetary Streams International, a Social Media Communications Company, provides internet Radio & TV communications solutions for companies and individuals around the globe. Launched February 2008 to meet the growing demands of audio and visual delivery on the internet, PSI operates globally from the "Broadcast Barn" in Woodland Hills using proprietary technology connects to deliver marketing messages from individuals and companies. Please visit www.planetarystreams.com, or call Chad Stilson at chad@planetarystreams.com or contact Joanne at 801-473-9174.

 

World Wide Web flying by?

I remember when my parents brought home one of the first microwaves on our block. My grandmother came over and asked me to show her how to "get the hang of it" so she could tell all her friends. She said it was a mystery to her but she was determined to be the first of her friends to have one. Having survived the great depression my grandma was not the kind to be afraid of anything but I could tell she was a little wary of the big black box capable of melting down plastic bowls in seconds. As I was showing her what to do she told me she had showed her own grandmother how to work her TV. We laughed while we burnt a cheese sandwich to a crisp. Years later when I had to ask my kids to help me download a James Taylor song onto the iPod I received for Christmas I realized I was losing ground. My kids laughed at me for not knowing how to download and it made me feel better to smirk at them for not knowing who James Taylor was. Smirking was not enough, I felt like the world, indeed the World Wide Web was passing me by. More from me on www.powerstrategies.TV and www.planetarystreams.com

Bluebirds hoping for heat!

Tired of squawking about the snow! It's supposed to be 90 degrees this week! No more snow for us!

No Dishwasher for Bluebird

Okay, just when you think you don't have enough time to do all you have to do . . . your dishwasher breaks down. Seriously, not good timing. The kids shoved all the dishes in and broke off a part of our ancient albeit deluxe dishwasher and "wa la" we are pioneers doing dishes by hand. You watch next week I will do a Planetary Visions "How To" Snack TV on doing the dishes by hand. I'd forgotten! Oh well!

Snowing on Bluebirds in May!

Unbelievable. I put my winter clothes away for the third time and "ta do" like magic it snows. I woke up to see my fresh green leave and budding lilacs drooping over with almost an inch of heavy white icey frosting. SNOW! I checked my calendar? It's May! To get my kids off to school I had to dig through the storage boxes for the usual boots and gloves. Nice! Will I ever get to enjoy the Iris or the Lilacs I usually see in April – will they skip blooming all together and shrivel in summer's heat? Okay, I know I am complaining but really! Snow?!?!?!?

Bluebird Returns to the Sea!

Today I am officially committed to moving back home to California. I belong near the sea and if for now that can't be the pretty little seaside village of Dunmore East I will at least see the Pacific Ocean every morning when I wake up! This I promise, whether or not my teenage daughter's life will be over if we move J

Bluebird Triumphs 24 Zero Down Marketing is Done!

Over one thousand people have asked me to give them advice on marketing. Many are paying clients, most people who see me, like they see any neighborhood lawyer or policeman, are strapped for cash and just want some quick advice to get them going so they can make some money so they can hire professionals. I always feel happy to help but frustrated that I can't do more. Well, now I can. I have taken my 17+ years of award-winning experience and turned it into a strategy guide to help people create their own marketing plan to get their companies marketing! It's called "24 Hours to Zero Down Marketing" and you guessed it, it takes 24 hours and may I say . . . it is a really comprehensive and positive plan. I just turned it over to the editors last night and soon it will be available on my Website at www.kpowerstrategies.com. I am thinking of charging what it is worth, what I would charge my clients, yet then giving a discount those family-owned businesses that need a little help! My way of sharing the wealth! I am very very very excited about this and as well spring is in the air! Soon I will be moving to California, by the beach no less, no more long hard winters for me (or for my skin!) Life is lovely!

Bluebirds friend Steve tells joke!

A married couple in their early 60s was celebrating

their 40th wedding anniversary in a quiet, romantic little restaurant.

 

Suddenly, a tiny yet beautiful fairy appeared on their table.

 

She said, "For being such an exemplary married couple and for being

loving to each other for all this time, I will grant you each a wish."

 

The wife answered,

"Oh, I want to travel around the world with my darling husband."

 

 

The fairy waved her magic wand and - poof! - two tickets

for the Queen Mary II appeared in her hands.

 

 

The husband thought for a moment: "Well, this is all

very romantic, but an opportunity like this will never come again.

 

 

I'm sorry my love, but my wish is to have a wife 30

years younger than me."

 

The wife, and the fairy, were deeply disappointed, but a wish is a wish.

 

 

So the fairy waved her magic wand and poof!...the

husband became 92 years old.

 

The moral of this story: Men who are ungrateful pigs should remember

fairies are female.....

Bluebird Mom wants Auto Wash Clothes

They've invented everything else you can think of to help us keep our homes clean! Great cleaning implements from Dyson to Swifter! Yet in the laundry department they are still selling the same old Tide and Downey. Sure there is bleach and no bleach and safe bleach and the Downey now has an array of scents, scents only dreamed of by exhausted laundry doers years ago, but does Lilac scent really help us? Why can't someone invent "auto wash" clothes. Or better yet, kids dirty clothes tossed on the floor disintegrate after 4 or 5 days, just in time for the weekend when I have to do laundry. Laundry makes my house messy. Clothes, dirty clothes piled in baskets in the bedrooms and in the laundry room. For Heaven's sake my house was spotless last week after we took all our spring c leaning and regular wash to the local Splish Splash laundrymat! Now we have a little dust – have a swifter for that – and loads of clothes. I'm all for Green Day, I take 2 minute shorter showers, I even used melted snow to water my four dogs, come on, a little help here. I don't want to do laundry today! My kids don't want to it either – I make them though! (Is it obvious that its not working!) Someone please come up with an idea. Auto Wash clothes! You spill and stain gone – automatically. You sweat and sweat gone – automatically. You skin your knee and hole gone – automatically. My son plays Army man and crawls through the mud – head to toe mud gone – automatically. Great idea, huh! Now please someone get to work.

Bluebird Battle Blunders

I had an interesting exchange with Wendy Piersall today.  I made a comment on her article, "10 Social Media Blunders" (see link below) and I guess it wasn't so much that the exchange was interesting as the thoughts I had surrounding it were.  You see, I don't think I am alone in my feeling of isolation upon really entering the bloggers world.  Blogging gives the Web a voice, I like that but like all things you read you can read into them further and farther than you would ever want.  I read through comments, discussions and posts and think, "Who are these people and how are they so brilliant?"  also I think, why are they so rude about rules I know nothing about? "  I have not been banned or shunned but you can tell reading their written voices that if you don't have the right words and phrases, much less know what they mean,  you are on the outside of the bloggers social circle.  Feels like high school but then again I have yet to meet the Emily Post of the WWW.  However, as close as you can come from what I have seen is Wendy Piersall.  I like her, I like how she writes, you feel like she cares.  She is like the prom queen in highschool, the good kind, who smiles and leads her fellow classmates to social safety.  I know Wendy may not like being compared to a high school prom queen, she is gorgeous from her photos and all, but come on she is a multi-tasking social media entrepreneur, who cares if she has a crown?  Anyway, undaunted I continue to figure out this whole social media thing, if only to champion those flitting around on the outside like the little Robin Red Breast that taps on my window every morning.  I'm not kidding about this . . . she (or he, how do you tell?) sits on the ledge outside my window and hassince the spring thaw started (no end in site after yesterday's snow storm) and taps.  Even my dogs, which I have one less of since Lucky, but you've already read that) have quit barking so used to her daily ritual they've become.  Perhaps, she has a message for me, being on the outside and all, perhaps a living analogy.  Perhaps I've been online too long!

Bluebird gets her soul back

It's been rough, I admit it! There is a phrase in Napoleon Hill's book, "Think and Grow Rich" which says, "If you have even been discouraged, if you have had difficulties to surmount which took the very soul out of you, if you have tried and failed, if you were ever handicapped by illness or physical affliction . . . this use of the Carnegie formula may prove to be an oasis in the Desert of Lost Hope for which you have been searching."

The book goes on from there and it is good and I do suggest you read it again. The last time I read it was 11 years ago. Yet what hit me today was the "took the very soul out of you." That is exactly how I felt and as I read the word resonated with me, the very soul had been ripped out of me by unkind and in my opinion unethical colleagues and I let them do it. They should not have wanted to but there is no accounting for people, you just never know. So, here I was walking around hollow, shell-like, soulless. Perhaps that comes from extreme duress; perhaps you have felt it too.

Why are people, especially women so ruthless? I can understand a woman protecting her child or her family, I have 4 dogs, 2 birds and 1 cat and when I thought my neighbor ran over my cat you should have seen me. But why in the normal non -life threatening scheme of things to women have to be so unkind, so set for the kill?

The Bluebird Sisterhood was formed out of what was left in my hollow heart. A commitment a pact if you will for women to put ruthless behavior aside, take down the claws, turn their hearts to kindness. I was not blameless. I have done and said some pretty ruthless things in my life, okay, maybe not ruthless yet definitely unkind. It still amazes me that some of my former friends had it in them to be so petty, to dramatically crazy awful. On the grand side, once I committed I got my own soul back. What other people do to me should not affect how I feel myself. There are several books written on the subject, right? So, we all know this. As Abe Lincoln said, "Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be." Yet with women it seems somehow different. If we are unhappy we take people down. Taking people down, as was done to me, is pretty hard on the soul. Pretty hard. In fact, devastating. So somehow having a pact with other women not to allow a repeat performance cheered me and somehow promising not to engage in one myself restored my soul. No one can take my determination to commitment away from me again. No one will have my soul again.

Bluebird being monitored by men

Hey everyone we will be discussing this on our Bluebird Sisterhood Internet radio show at 11 EST time at www.planetarystreams.com on Planetary Talk Radio. We got the big wig executive who sent this around to call and give the man's perspective! Let me know what you think!

WORDS WOMEN USE

(1)Fine:This is the word women use to end an argument when they are right and you need to shut up.

(2) Five Minutes:If she is getting dressed, this means a half an hour. Five minutes is only five minutes if you have just been given five more minutes to watch the game before helping around the house.

(3)Nothing:This is the calm before the storm. This means something, and you should be on your toes. Arguments that begin with nothing usually end in fine.

(4)Go Ahead:This is a dare, not permission. Don't Do It!

( 5)Loud Sigh:This is actually a word, but is a non-verbal statement often misunderstood by men. A loud sigh means she thinks you are an idiot and wonders why she is wasting her time standing here and arguing with you about nothing. (Refer back to # 3 for the meaning of nothing.)

(6)That's Okay:This is one of the most dangerous statements a women can make to a man. That's okay means she wants to think long and hard before deciding how and when you will pay for your mistake.

(7)Thanks:A woman is thanking you, do not question, or Faint. Just say you're welcome. (I want to add in a clause here - This is true, unless she says 'Thanks a lot' - that is PURE sarcasm and she is not thanking you at all. DO NOT say 'you're welcome' ... that will bring on a 'whatever').

(8)Whatever:Is a women's way of saying *#*# YOU! !

(9)Don't worry about it, I got it:Another dangerous statement, meaning this is something that a woman has told a man to do several times, but is now doing it herself. This will later result in a man asking 'What's wrong?' For the woman's response refer to # 3.

*

Bluebird Makes Death Star

Sometimes I have nothing to write but the absolute grim truth. Grim being the operative word. We were invited to Kristen Lambs huge Star Wars party and asked to bring "out of this world" food. My kids wanted to bring a Death Star cake. Thank you! I made two Bundt cakes, sent my husband to the store for black food coloring and figured it would be just that easy. Still today, three or so days later, my fingers and nails are a nice shade of black and "No, Kerrie, I didn't finally get hip and invest in black nail polish!" So, lopped the cakes together with hordes of blackish grey frosting and realized like a really good engineer that the Bundt cake, not unlike a Death Star, was hollow. I filled it with chocolate chips – to represent Storm Troopers – and proceeded to frost the less than concave sphere. What happens to chocolate chips when surrounded by warm Bundt cake? You guessed it the Storm Troopers melted! Morale of story, "What am I doing building a Death Star anyway? I'm just a few days away from launching my new marketing strategy guide, "24 Hours to Zero Down Marketing" and I have better things to do with my black fingers! J Ah well, kids loved it and it will wash off someday!

Bluebird is soaring!

Almost finished with my "24 Hours to Zero Down Marketing" strategy guide. Imagine I finished the last of it with kids in the house during spring break! I have sent it by a few people and the love it! I really hope it helps small businesses and entrepreneurs quickly put together a viable strategy that allows them the focus on marketing that every business needs. I threw in a little about getting TV and Radio for their website of course from Planetary Streams. KPower Strategies is my company, Planetary Streams is my best "friendeses" company – my best girlfriend and her husband and my best husband own it and well it provides as awesome resource for website communication!-Happy Day for me! Love checking major items off of my "To Do" list. This has been on that list quite a while. People have been asking for it for years. Well here you go . . . look for it to be up on ready on the May 1!

Bluebird sings on Technorati!

How cool am I? I now have a blog on Technorati! See Wendy Piersall you'll make believers of us yet! <a href="http://technorati.com/faves?sub=addfavbtn&amp;add=http://kpowerstrategies.blogspot.com"><img src="http://static.technorati.com/pix/fave/btn-fave2.png" alt="Add to Technorati Favorites" /></a>

Bluebird wants out of the mud!

It was the day after we had to close the business and blatant reality was dark. Winter was turning slowly to spring and by that I mean the 8 foot wall of grey ice next to our driveway was finally melting. I had read every power of positive thinking book out there and some twice while trying to convince myself that there was a silver lining. I kept asking myself why I had failed. All comparisons to Edison's 8,000 light bulb tries failed to cheer me up. I was supposed to be successful. I had watched others succeed and had confidentially joked with them that I would invite them to my castle in Ireland someday. Now, someday seemed to be never ever day. What had I missed? The answer would not come and the reality of failure was painful. I decided to go for a walk. After all I had no business to claim my time and nothing else to do. I was walking along taking in the beauty of the mountains trying to feel something, and looking at the positive side that I at least had time to take a walk finally, when as if pushed hard from behind I fell into the post-snow thaw mud. I just laid there wondering why I should get up. I laid there face down stuck in the mud and cried and cried. When I was finished feeling sorry for myself and grieving my lost business I suddenly knew, I knew why I had failed. I knew the one strategy of success we had neglected which had caused the failure and it was embarrassing. We had a good product/service but it all had come down not doing this one thing. I had gotten so busy that I had forgotten, put off, not placed the importance into "marketing" my product/service. How many years had I wasted in doing the efforts of business only to find at the end that my product/service was worthless when not sold into the hands of consumers? If consumers did not know about my product then I wasn't selling and if my product wasn't selling than I did not have a business. Like, I thought, as I started extricating myself from the tear and snow laden mud, me, no business.

What an idiot I am, I thought as I sat up. I have years of award-winning marketing experience and I, the self-professed marketing guru even failed. What about my colleagues who had less knowledge and experience? I thought of my many entrepreneur friends and the advice I had given them. Had I followed that same advice myself? And, why hadn't I? No money and no time for marketing popped into my head before I could stop it. I knew better! Aside from being mud-caked I was embarrassed and mad. And right there in the mud it hit me. I knew exactly what we could have done right. I knew exactly how I could have been a million billionaire. And I knew exactly what I should have shared and shown by example to my entrepreneur friends. Really it was like that, startling and immediate, like sun rays filling my mud soaked soul. I got up, hobbled home, threw my clothes in the rubbish (I could because I knew now that I would be a success and could buy new clothes) and sat down and wrote an outline. Why not? I had the answer to make any company rich and successful. I wrote it, I applied it and within one week I was bringing in money again and selling my new business product/service. I was making money because my product/service was in the hands of customers. When it worked and worked fast and well, I decided I needed to make up for the bad example I had been and share this plan with my entrepreneur friends. I followed this very same plan below, written from my muddy notes. Here it is unbelievably simple and powerfully effective and something any entrepreneur with a product/service can do.

Now here is where you probably are thinking, "I don't have the money for marketing!" and I am going to shout back, "Yes, you do!" and even more painfully "Yes, I did!" I did have enough money for marketing, we all do, in my case I just did not take the time.

Time is one resource we all get FREE and we get to control. I can hear you all shouting now. "Time! I don't have any time! With being the accountant, the president, the client relations, the production manager and the financier in my business, how would I have any time?" Some of you are shouting and you have a staff! Staffs take a lot of time, I know, I know. And, it gets crazy loud here from female entrepreneurs, "Aside from my business, I have a family to love, organize, focus on, feed!"

To all of you, I know, I know, believe me I know. Remember I was the failure in the mud. I was right there with you as oddly trite as this may read I am going to keep you from falling in the mud!

From here, despite your shouting, what you are going to read will help you and your business succeed. It will help you in 24 hours and it will take 24 hours. Already I have applied what I have known learned and experienced in two months since my business closed. In my new business venture I am already as successful as I was after a few years and now am ready to be one of those million billionaire success stories and so will you. Believe me there is enough money in the pie for all of us to be very, very, very successful and all we need is everything we were doing and this additional 24 hours.

The key I recognized while in the mud is based on time and effort not money. You just need 24 hours this week or whenever you are ready to start. (Do it sooner than later please, mud is so uncomfortable!) Can you spare 24 hours to make your business a success? All of you are nodding your heads skeptically. Could 24 hours really make a difference? YES it can it will and it doesn't matter how you divide it up but you need to commit to take 24 hours out of your schedule this week to FOCUS on marketing, focus on 24 hours to Zero Down Marketing. You can break it up for your convenience though stopping life for 24 hours to do this seems incredibly dramatic, I think the sooner the better. That castle in Ireland is waiting!. You can do two days of 12 hours. You can do 4 days of six hours. But you will need 24 and not a minute less to start your "24 hours to Zero Down Marketing" process for your company.

Bluebird face down in mud

I had a choice, build a company or die.

I was laid off during what has come to be known as the dot com era. My husband was a police officer and basically only worked to keep us well insured. My income was primary. I was lucky to have 15 years experience and a skill which was convertible into a business. Some of you reading this had to get more creative to come up with a product or service to sell. My livelihood was inborn and in demand and now I had to turn it into an independent livelihood. What did I do? What did we all do? We started a business.

What makes the difference between a successful business and one that you pour years, money, your soul and your family's soul into only to have to give up in 2-7 years? Why do some people work like you do, out of your garage, basement or dining room, and end up million billionaires, while you end up losing your house?

Why? As much as I hate to ask why and less like to face the answers, I discovered the secret, the key, the answer while face down in the mud after losing a business I had worked heart and soul for 6 almost 7 years.

BLUEBIRD SISTER LOOSES MANS BEST FRIEND

Already 2008 has been tough and they say bad news comes in threes, not sure who says this but we have all heard that. This year I lost my job, my company and now most devastating my best friend, my dog Lucky. Lucky was a tall noble Irish Wolfhound, Brindle Grey and eyes only for me. Rain, shine, sleet, snow this dog loved me. He came to when I had been very ill, after we had lost two beloved family members. I had sold my wedding ring to pay for him, I hadn't had a dog since my sweet Florence of 14 years had died. My husband was working the night shift and I knew I needed a dog. He slept next to my bed, laid at my feet while I worked and each time I put my hand down he put his head under it! He was fine and full of life and when I brought him in the other night I could see something was wrong, he went to his favorite spot on our couch (yes though my husband was opposed to it he did have a spot on the couch in our family room) he would not eat or drink and I could tell by his eyes something was troubling him. I bothered my husband and I often do about these things, "Chad something is wrong with lucky!" As he often does he put me off – "he's fine!" and yet I knew he wasn't. I asked him again and being the sweet heart hero type he is my husband went to look him over and found that his stomach was distended. Worried about the bloat, we got out the Irish Wolfhound book and found we needed to do something quick. I called Judy and she said to get him to a vet. My husband called around while I tried to help Lucky get more comfortable. I talked to him rubbed his ears and then helped him into the car where he get trying to get into the front seat with my husband. (Which at 80 mph on the freeway was not smart.) We pulled over twice to get him back in the back seat with me. Finally lucky laid on his back on the floor of the back seat while I held his head and sang Irish lullaby's to him, rubbed his favorite spot and spoke soothing words to him. I knew somehow that things were not good. We got to the pet hospital and took xrays and they showed us the twisted stomach, the bloat and the fact that his stomach was in his chest and his spleen moved to the other side. He was in paid. I laid with him in his kennel there while we waited for the blood work to bear results that would determine his eligibility for surgery. The vet was female and thought she could perform the surgery and somehow that he had a good chance. The surgery was expensive and his chances 70% . I felt he wouldn't make it and yet my husband was a hero again and said we must do all we could and so we agreed. They shaved him, gave him a sedative and I held his head in my hands and he gave me a final look, his eyes for a second focused on me and then he licked me and then he was out. It took 4 vet assistants and my husband to get him on the table as he groaned. He went into surgery and 1 and a half hour later they said he was doing well and that he had only a 50% chance. I prayed then and felt that he would go and that I was to accept it. Thirty minutes later the vet came to tell us he had died just as they had stitched him up. His great big heart giving out in the end. I say him lifeless on the operating table, my massive best friend looked small somehow and not at all the lively noble friend he had always been. I save his shaved stomach, the stitches and the trauma of the situation put me into a kind of shock. It has been three days and I look under my desk to my cold feet from to find him, I step over his usual spot when I get out of bed and I put my hand down and am disappointed not to find his head. Where has he gone and why? Why? Then I know I must not ask, I think back to my friend Rachelle's mother from Africa who says that when you loose a beloved dog know that they made the sacrifice in lieu of the death of someone else you loved. The day Lucky died we found my husband's cholesterol was thorugh the roof and I thought perhaps Lucky with is love for me gave his life so that I might keep my husband's. I truly don't know, I just don't have those answers. If he did make that sacrifice I am very grateful. I do know he loved me. I miss him so much, I cry every few minutes and it has been 3 days, I wonder at the possibility of bearing this life without him and then my friend Judy said, "he went through the doggie door in Heaven and you will see him again!" And I thought to my self, now I will look forward to the day I die, if I do get to see him again. He was my best friend in a way that no living human could be . . . he was there rain or shine . . . happy said, brushed or un brushed . . . he loved me . . . I could tell by his eyes. And now I am alone in that. I thankfully have family and friend, my husband and my kids, so thank you Lucky for all you did, I don't know why your stomach twisted, I did everything to save you, I wish you were here, I am thankful for the time I am. I am sad so very sad and left behind are our other dogs, my daughter's poodle who has come to sit with me more the last three days than in the last 4 years. Lucky's smate Daisy, runs through the house looking looking looking for Lucky. I have told her what happened but does she understand? The other dog, Lucky and Daisy's son was scheduled to go to a home this weekend. He was the last of 8 puppies . . . . Sam, Sam has Lucky's eyes and his head and Daisy's from there on. I had my husband call the people and tell them not to come and get the puppy they had so looked forward. I was going to keep the last of Lucky, Lucky's son. He is not Lucky, he never will be, but he came in licked my face, sat at my feet and kept my feet warm at my desk and somehow I knew Lucky made his sacrifice and could because he had left someone behind to help me. Sam his son. So I am broken, bloody but unbowed as in William Earnest Henley's Invictus, but am not alone. My heart is filled with Lucky and my feet are warmed by his son and this Bluebird now can keep breathing.

April 1st is for funny Bluebirds!

Today, being from the witty Irish family that I am . . . I could not resist a prank or two. Perhaps it was because my own children awakened me with the old "whipped cream in the hand tickle your nose trick" Yes, very nice and especially wonderful as I had sworn off sugar and just washed my hair! (Speaking of which – I cut off 10 inches last week! Think it was depression over Grapevine, can't be sure!) Anyway, so I set up the old Saran Wrap and Vaseline on the handles and commode seats and set up Marshmallows to shower them as they walked into their rooms upon their return from school. They all fell on the floor laughing and then refused to eat dinner thinking I had put ExLax in . . . I have told them too many college stories to be sure! Ah well, as George Bernard Shaw once said . . . "Youth is wasted on the Young!" What's a good fools day without a few tricks? I think I will call my sister in California next and tell her that me and my family and four dogs will be moving in for the summer. Ha! That might kill her and remember pranks should never harm – just scare grey hairs in! Love and laugh laugh -- from Kim Power Stilson

Grapevine Dies Bluebird Lives

 

Thank you to my many, many, Bluebird Sisters – friends and family – who responded with love and affection over my sad news! The Bluebird Sisterhood is about women sticking together and surely some of you lovely birds showed your gorgeous colors!

Sometimes good things must come to an end! Yesterday, March 31^st, was the last day of the Grapevine Talk Radio Network, after three years and with it so stopped Healthy Wealthy Wow for Women Talk Radio Show after seven years. I have been very sad about this . . . sad because we worked so hard, accomplished so much and then when times got tough the original partners lost interest and there I was last one standing and without the attention it needed the vine just died! I lost a lot of sleep, earned some invaluable lessons . . . and garnered a wealth of experience. Thank you to all those who supported us in our efforts to share talk that helped in a hopeful way to bring balance to women's lives!

Great news is that I am still alive and kicking with a book "Women Buy Everything!" coming out this Spring with illustrations of my own (YES, shocker took up water color like Winston Churchill in a crisis – yet hope I am a bit better) and you will hear from me on wwww.kpowerstrategies.com site and also from around the world on the new projects I am consulting on! The Bluebird Sisterhood is just one of the fun things we are doing – an offering grown out of life experience! Life can be sad but as long as the future looks good there is grand hope! Love Love Love to all of you who have grand intentions as well. I wish for your success! It will come if you refuse to give up!

Bluebirds like sack lunches!

Today I got up early made the kids breakfast and sack lunch. The always complain about the terrible food at school and thanks to a grand friend I had fresh fruit and veggies to put in their lunches along with organic turkey and cheese on thick grain bread with vegienaise dressing. I worked hard in the kitchen feeding them, finding socks and homework and finally waved them off exhausted but proud to have been such a great mom! I returned to my home office and began the day's tasks when I remembered I had promised to drink more water. I went into the kitchen to get a glass and found all three beautifully packed lunches lined up on the counter. All three! It was snowing – I know can you believe it? – so the lunches were still cool to touch so I stuck two in the fridge and took one over to my desk. Throughout today I have had (for the first time) healthy snacks (as opposed to forgetting to eat. When you work in an office everyone asks you to lunch – at home it is dinner time before I look up from my laptop) that were right on my desk and I decided something. I may not make lunch for the forgetful kids but why not a sack lunch for me? I know it is only 15 or so steps to my kitchen and I don't really need to waste a brown paper bag – but why not prepare a lunch and have it ready to go on busy days – even if busy only means marketing to the world from my desk? Just a wild thought from a bluebird sister!

Do bluebirds sing in the forest?

I saw a few bluebirds flitting around today . . . or rather I wanted to see them. With Easter holiday behind us and snow still on the ground and snow forecasted for tomorrow it seems pointless to hope. Are they saving their voices for spring, real spring?

Bluebirds kids home for Easter already?

How come I still have to work? The kids all off for a day before Easter Weekend got up leisurely and wanted to know what I had planned for them in the way of fun? Fun? I have a full day of Power Strategies business, Planetary Vision How To Snack Videos to film, my new Women Buy Everything Talk Radio Show to prepare for and well I had wanted to get a manicure. How's that for fun? My day was planned, I had asked when spring break was and they told me April. Last I checked we were still in March so why oh why aren't they in school? The Easter activities are Saturday and at church on Sunday so what am I supposed to do for them today? Friday? Ah, so solution, I am putting them to work, that is what my mom would have done. Lazy whiney kids asking, "what can I do? I am bored?" I say, "here is a list of chores, if you get that done I will take you to a movie!" Ha! Bluebird Sisters win again!

Bluebird Sister had teenage daughter and needs help

Bluebird Sisters I need your help! Here are the big problems in my life. Problems disguised as opportunity if you will. First . . . teenage daughter despite the warnings from people who have gone before I was not prepared or even wary for the excitement of having a teenage daughter. At our place there is now enough emotional energy to run the lights in our entire home though to date more lights have fizzled off then on at random over explosive emotional exchanges.

 

Now we love our daughter so we are willing to go the long haul, although my husband looks weary enough for two of us after yesterday, but does it have to be so dramatic? Really I like to see a good play every now and then but not so sure I want all that noise and theatrics in my own home every night! Help!

 

Second problem is business colleagues. What is it lately with people who forget to be professional? Has there been some kind of procedural change with the code of professional etiquette. Yikes, what is happening to the world?

 

Anyway, all this too shall pass! Happy to be here and if you want to share advice on teenagers and if you want to discuss professionalism – in hopes of improving it you can reach me at www.kpowerstrategies.com. Not really blatant plug, how else are you going to reach me?

 

By the way, it is still snowing!

Cell Phone Holiday

Imagine a day without cell phones glued to our ears, without having to balance them on our shoulders to the detriment of our necks, a day without asking where are my cell phone and keys?  Can you imagine a day without a cell phone.  Driving without having to contribute to a conversation?  Doing anything at all without being accessible via a cell phone, what would that be like? Can we remember a time? Would we have to go as far back as the early 80's?

I think for our mental and physical health we should try a day without our cell phone, a cell phone holiday, a national day off from our cell phones.

 Now think, what would you do?  What would you do with your thoughts, your time, your day without always chatting with someone.  Would your business fall apart, your office staff abscond, your kids turn rebellious?  Or would it be a nice day, a day to see what original thoughts still rattle in your head, a day to rest your neck, your mouth?  How fun would it be just to not answer the phone, not talk, just be.   So think about it and let's set a date for the cell phone holiday!

Bluebirds need cell phone holiday

 

All week I tried to figure out why I don't like to carry my cell phone around and why lately I have not liked to answer it.  Texting and email are fine but why is it that because when I hear it ring I cringe that I just leave it as far as possible from my desk.  This week was a particularly tough week and when I needed to make a call I would have to retrace my steps finding my cell phone not in the usual professional places like my desk, the car, the laptop but in the following places.  On top of the washing machine (did I even do laundry this week?) in my son's Sunday shoes (no idea on that one) next to the over near the knives (did I even cook this week?) on the pantry shelves near the diced tomatoes and fruit roll ups (again ?) and finally in my top bathroom drawer next to my toothbrush (yes well I did brush my teeth that I can recall)  So what is it with my cell phone and do I really need it anyway. Anyone who wants me can email me.  My husband argues this point, clients need to reach me, kids need to reach me, why don't I just get a little belt clip and wear it around with me.  Belt clip?  Like  I need anything extra around my waist.  I just can't seem to hold onto my cell phone this week.  Maybe we I had better stay in the house until I figure that out  . . . . maybe I need a cell phone vacation!  Yes, that is what I need.  Can you imagine?  A vacation without a cell phone, no really, how would the office call you to tell you what you were missing, what about the dog and cat sitter?  what if your dogs stopped eating suddenly where would they call you?  Not practical but I think a national cell phone holiday, 24 hours without cell phones would do us all some great good.  What do you think?

Big Week & Love the Bluebird Sisterhood!

What a big week here! Only a few days til my son's 8th birthday and my favorite holiday St. Patrick's Day. I love March, a perfect time to see the birds sing. This morning saw the biggest bluebird ever just outside my window! Love the Bluebird sisterhood! In the meantime, busy writing the Make Bake Shake & Rake offering for my www.kpowerstrategies.com site! wish me the best! Internet Communications is awsome and soon we will also be launching the new It's Your LIfe Talk Back radio network on planetary streams and we will all have a lot to say about Bluebirds on that radio show as well!

Bluebirds wear white!

Still it is winter and still there is snow and will we ever get to walk outside without a coat again?
March 4th and it is snowing still. No hint or promise of spring at all present in the 4 feet of snow still lingering in my yard either. My kids are ancy, my dogs are ancy and I am waiting for teh bluebirds. This week was a sad day for the Bluebird sisterhood, we lost a member, a friend who turned out not to be the sister we thought. We wish her well but our hearts are sad that she indeed was really not one of us. The Bluebird sisterhood means we have each others backs, we watch out for each other, we can depend on each other . . . cliche but true . . . through thick and thin. Thin it has been lately but thick it will be again and we must stand the test of time and stay together for who else will we have besides our family then friends? We lost our sister but we continue! To hear more of this mindless chat please log on and listen to www.planetarystreams.com to hear our talk radio show at 12 noon MST!

Bluebirds get Planetary Vision!

The Bluebird Sisters are so pleased to celebrate the launch of Planetary Vision on Planetary Streams.com because we love them and because we are on their site! Check us out!

Planetary Streams Radio & TV Company Launches Planetary Vision
Giving More People a Chance to Be Seen and Heard On the Internet
New Internet Communications Company Offer Internet Marketing


February 26, 2008 --Woodland Hills, UT –Planetary Streams International, an internet Radio & Talk TV Communications Company, which officially launched this week, today announces Planetary Vision their online offering to meet the growing demands of small businesses and entrepreneurs to compete with audio and visual delivery on the internet.

Planetary Vision offers communications and internet marketing for clients who want to be seen and heard on the Internet. Planetary Vision is funded by its members who have a say about what is communicated on the Internet and is offered on Planetary Streams at www.planetarystreams.com and includes services for monthly fee. The services below are offered free or at a great discount to those with Planetary Vision.
Planetary Vision includes:

Free Commercial for your website
Once you have PV our engineers by email to set a recording time. Having a commercial will add spice to your site. Listen to hear your commercial LIVE on the or on It’s Your Life Talk Back Radio Network!

6 Weeks as a Talk Radio Star and a Chance to Win Your Own Talk Radio Show
Planetary Vision brings you “It’s Your Life Talk Back Radio Network”, where you get FREE six weeks to share your message about whatever floats your boat and listeners VOTE on whether you should win your own talk radio show on the Grapevine Talk Radio Network.
Access to services to create Your Own Talk TV Show
Enhance your site with Talk TV. Website visuals can increase your site click throughs by up to 80%. Share your message and star in your own TV show. With Planetary Vision we show you how!

Create a website TV Commercial
Give your site life! Tell your story in a one minute commercial and be seen on the Internet! With Planetary Vision we can show you how!

24/7 Access to the Grapevine
Log on and listen, call in and chat, FREE on the Grapevine! Award-winning hosts and maybe someday YOU, share the latest through the Grapevine Talk Radio Network. Missed the live show? Planetary Vision gives you the power of convenience with archives and podcasts so you can listen anytime. Listen FREE on planetarystreams.com.
Please visit www.planetarystreams.com, or call Chad Stilson at chad@planetarystreams.com or kpowerstrategies.com or contact Natalie at 801-473-9211.
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ABOUT PLANETARY STREAMS:
Planetary Streams International provides internet Radio & TV communications solutions for companies and individuals around the globe. Created in 2007 and officially launched February 22nd 2008 to meet the growing demands of audio and visual delivery on the internet, PSI operates globally from the “Broadcast BARN” in Woodland Hills using proprietary technology connects to deliver marketing messages from individuals and companies.

ABOUT PLANETARY VISION:
PSI is pleased to announce “Planetary Vision” a new offering which moves message selection and choice solely from dictates of major networks and gives the communication power back to the people. Planetary is a network offering programmed, produced and funded by its members. Through PSI Planetary Vision offers people and their companies a real opportunity to communicate on the internet. Planetary Vision provides FREE access to several talk radio network services, including a FREE talk radio show for six weeks on It’s Your Life Talk Back Radio Network (launching March 1st)and the opportunity to win your own show on the well-known Grapevine Talk Radio Network. Planetary Vision offers PV TALK TV Shows which entertain and inform and educate based on merit not on advertisers, PV Snack TV, two-minutes how to’s with submission welcomed by all members. Planetary Vision offers membership to the Bluebird Sisterhood, discounts to services provided by Growth Climates’ Relationship Radio, My PodCard, AT HAND hosting and delivery service by Makau Corporation, archives and podcasts and more to come. For more information on services, please visit, www.planetarystreams.com or contact chad@planetarystreams.com

ABOUT THE GRAPEVINE TALK RADIO NETWORK The Grapevine Talk Radio Network is a knowledge-sharing talk radio network founded to connect people to the grapevine 21st Century Style through the internet. Now reaching millions of listeners’ world wide, the first broadcast of the 24/7 talk network was in March 2005. All interested in sharing their stories and information on the grapevine are invited to listen, plog©, email and talk back on the grapevine. Listen blog or plog at www.grapevineradio.com. Please call in to talk to us, win prizes or talk back by calling 1-866-535-0841.

Bluebirds love snow Days!

Don’t we all deserve on day to do nothing? This Sunday was perfect for that! Yesterday we relaxed after working all weekend on the launch of our new Internet Communications Company, Planetary Streams. How much snow do you think we have now? Total left almost 6 feet and that is not accumulative or we would be over 10 feet I am sure! See these photos! You would think we would be tired of watching TV & Radio by Sunday but the snain, what I call snow and rain, joined with the winds and was pummeling our home, so we watched the Oscars. It was cold, dark, nasty and none of us wanted to leave the house. We curled up in blankets and listened to all of the thank yous and critiqued the dresses. My favorite Academy Award Dress was Helen Mirrens and Nicole Kidman’s necklace. We love John Travolta dancing in and we wondered what was wrong with Owen Wilson. All and all a fairly entertaining evening though really we are partial to Home Makeover which has enough human compassion and love in it that you don’t feel quite so bad about the world when you are done watching it!

Well today marks the day before the big launch of the Planetary Vision powered by Planetary Streams at www.planetarystreams.com. It’s an internet communications company specializing in Talk TV & Radio for website and we have a lot of FREE offerings any website owner will love! We are also launching the Bluebird Sisterhood and celebrating the Grapevine Talk Radio Networks 3rd Birthday this week along with Festivus! www.grapevineradio.com, www.healthywealthywow.com Join us!

Wonderful place for the Bluebirds to Nest!

Check out where they put the bluebird sisterhood on their new site www.planetarystreams.com

New Internet Communications Company Launches Offering
Planetary Streams Radio & TV Company Delivers to World from Barn
Classic Example of High Tech Flexibility New Company Produces Talk Shows from people’s home locations all over the world and then Streams the globe from Broadcast Barn

February 22nd 2008 -- Woodland Hills, UT --Planetary Streams International, an internet Radio & Talk TV communications company, announced their official opening, Tuesday February 26th 2008, to meet the growing demands of audio and visual delivery on the internet. PSI operates globally from the “Broadcast BARN” in Woodland Hills using proprietary technology to deliver marketing messages from individuals and companies. Planetary Streams provides inexpensive Talk TV and Talk Radio to businesses and persons who need a way to effectively marketing on the internet.

Planetary Streams will provide a series of solutions launching on a weekly basis from today and will include an expanded Grapevine Talk Radio Network, FREE Competitive Talk Radio Network, Website commercials, Talk TV, Snack TV, discounts to online services, commercials, marketing tools and more.

According to founders of Planetary Streams, Kristen & Rob Lamb and Chad & Kim Stilson, they have been working to launch this internet communications company for almost a year and have spent tens of thousands of dollars finding the right equipment to record and stream quality projects for people from remote locations. To prove their technology would work from even the most remote location the built their communication studios at a convenient location near their homes.

“Most of our clients have never stepped foot into our studios, which are in a converted garage in a rural setting, most of our talkers are in different states, countries and time zones, they can connect with us via the internet and using our proprietary technology create a cost-effective and beautiful communication tool for their site,” said Chad Stilson, president Planetary Stream. “Companies who don’t have the big bucks to advertise on major networks will find our services to be the most affordable avenue available when it comes to giving their products and services a voice.”

Kristen Lamb, author, TV and radio talk show host and Planetary Streams co-founder is pleased to bring more life to the internet. She says that she feels hearing someone talk amidst the visuals is a stronger way to connect to your audience.

“To be a talk show host or to introduce people to your solutions now you don’t have to have a big name and a title or loads of money,” said Kristen Lamb, “You just need a personality and a product, if you talk about it and people like and need what you offer, you have a chance to sell. We give people a chance to talk and we share their voice beautifully.”

For more information about Planetary Streams visit, www.planetarystreams.com

ABOUT PLANETARY STREAMS:
Planetary Streams International provides internet Radio & TV communications solutions for companies and individuals around the globe. Created in 2007 and officially launched February 22nd 2008 to meet the growing demands of audio and visual delivery on the internet, PSI operates globally from the “Broadcast BARN” in Woodland Hills using proprietary technology connects to deliver marketing messages from individuals and companies.
Contact:
Chad Stilson
Planetary Streams
801-473-9211
chad@planetarystreams.com
www.kpowerstrategies.com