Hello My Name Is Kathy

Its Finally Here!!! The RAW Christmas Gift Guide: Perfect for your family Photographer

12/12/2011

The Perfect Gift Guide

Its Finally Here!!

The RAW Christmas Gift Guide:

Perfect for your family photographer

I have just recently come across an awesome website with some great gift ideas! I am not a great photographer by far but I love learning about photography and totally am in awe of the awesome photos I see on RAW…while reviewing the site I found out that Tristan did a post with his top gift ideas and I just had to share it!

Really if you think about it: who doesn’t know someone that is into photography?
You know like:
1. The person that shows you all his/her photos on their cell phone.
2. They are always bugging you to let them take a picture of you and something while you are on a trip.
OR
3. They are the “go to” person you call on when you need photos taken.
4. Now a days, they are also the one forever uploading everything to America’s Favorite program to laugh at that also pays those that make us laugh the most!

Well here are some awesome ways you can improve those shots and increase their chances of winning…you never know they may thank you so much that they share a little or invite you on the vacation.
Check site here

While your checking out Tristan’s top picks…look around at the other awesome interviews and pictures on the site and Remember: We love to hear back from others so please leave comments.

This article was written by Kat Cooley of Kat’s Hands

“There when you need an extra pair”

4 Comments

Another Year Has Past: Wow did that go fast

12/10/2011

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Another Year Has Past: Wow did that go fast

Winter Beauty

When I was younger and someone said that as you get older life just seems to fly by, I didn't see how that was possible. I mean we all get the same 365 days a year and age doesn't change that.
But as I sit here typing on the eve of my birthday, staring into another Christmas I honestly have to say it sure does feel like this year went faster. There were many changes in this last year and I can honestly say none of them were bad. Perhaps a bit uncomfortable at first but it all worked out in the end.

To start the year off right I lost 50 lbs. gained some back and But, as I have shared here...I have learned the proper way to weigh! LOL
Seriously, I am still ahead, I didn't gain it all back and I am strengthening my resolve to meet the goal of losing more this coming year.
I dove feet first into the world of online work and actually made money this year...still a little shy of breaking even but it has been a year of learning and growing. I can now do live webinars, I officially launched Kat's Hands..virtual assistant, social media PR for websites and other projects. I became a BA for Amega Global, now work with Empower Network and have my hand in a few other places too.

A Nudge for change..stepping it up

I successfully made the transition in school from studying for my Associates in Business Admin to my Bachelors in Communication and am happy to say that when I return to school in Feb. 2012 I will be a senior! Expected grad date is in December. I have found that I am using a lot of what I am learning in my everyday business life already so I know I made the right choice in changing.

Speaking of change: I moved a few times but am settled once again in my beloved Front Royal surrounded by the Appalachian, Blue Ridge and Shenandoah mountain ranges and happily attending my favorite church Dynamic Life Praise and Worship Center. My health has improved quite a bit from the fall of last year till now and I am looking forward to keeping that momentum going.
In a nutshell I decided to stop people pleasing and start God pleasing and doing what I believe I should. I don't mean being hateful or self-centered either, just that my priority was no longer on trying to keep everyone else in my life happy and forsaking what I knew I should do. I have made many friends because of this, alienated a few and think I was quite successful at being louder than the carpet, for sure! :D

I guess its safe to say when your busy and constantly on the move to improve and to change then the world around you truly does move, or at least appear to move, at a much faster pace. Simply because you have no time to stop and wonder how long you have til you get to the end.

Welcome to our world by Michael W. Smith

To end this post I will say Merry Christmas to all. For I celebrate the birth of my Lord and Savior. Happy Holidays to my many friends that also celebrate other holidays at this time of year and to everyone may the New Year bring you all that you need and the wants that are good for you. May it be filled to overflowing with love, peace and joy and may all you touch be prosperous.

See you soon

Kat Cooley

P.S. Please feel free to leave comments on my posts and check out my other pages too!

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Working From Home Series: Taking a Break

12/1/2011

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Working From Home Series: Taking a Break

As many of you know I am in my senior year of getting my Bachelors degree in Communications with an emphasis in Business Admin. I have been in school without a break other than basic holidays since September 2008. In online schools we go 10 weeks, off one and don't take summers off or get snow days :D.
Lately, I have found that I don't seem to have the same "get up and do" attitude I have had in the past. The courses are more demanding, I launched my own business "Kat's Hands" (really I was already doing it but now it has a name and an official status as a business." and as you can see from my picture above...the heavy schedule between the two is taking its toll. So in the interest of "keeping my stripes in tact" I am "taking a break" from school.

As I mentioned earlier, I just officially launched my own business. Doing what I already do. So I am going to use this Break from school, to help build the business up and get better situated to finish my courses. So count on me to be stepping it up a bit and sharing what I learn as I go with you all here in my: Working from home series.
Please leave comments here as I enjoy hearing from you all and welcome the constructive advice on what I post.
Oh and if you are in need of a virtual office assistant, or other help via the internet let me know at: [email protected] put work request in the subject line

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Working From Home Series #4: Computer Basics 101 for Marketers

10/15/2011

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Working From Home Series #4: Computer Basics 101 for Marketers

Working From Home Series #4

Does this look familiar?
Tired of glaring at your computer, frustrated that it is moving slower than molasses on a subzero temperature day?
Can't get it to load webinars, has frequent "white outs" and often needs you to manually crash the internet?
Most would think automatically of a virus, malware or spyware, right?
Not necessarily so, and in this blog and video I will show you a few of the very simple, but extremely important tasks that anyone, especially marketers, needs to know about Computer Basics 101.

First let me state that I am not an expert by far, however, I have been shocked and amazed many times by how many marketers, struggling with badly behaving computers, don't know about Computer Basics 101 for Marketers.

Computer Basics 101

To begin with its not your computers fault nor your internet, well not directly anyway. A computer can only do what you tell it to do and it needs you to take care of it. The following video is a recording of a live webinar I did for Marketing Survival Skills. In it I discuss some of the basics every Marketer should know. The first 30 minutes discuss things to do with marketing, It is afterall, a MSS webinar. But most of it is relative to marketing if you wish to watch it. I even throw in a few tidbits about Facebook.

Here is a few of the things I referred to in the webinar:
1. About:addons or you can look under tools for manage add ons
2. http://www.piriform.com/CCLEANER
3.Reference to the site I suggested you disable if you don't need it.
4. Check all extensions/add ons to be sure you need them

Remember if you take care of your computer it will take care of you
but its still office policy to "Blame the computer" Who will ever know different? LOL
OH and I would like to give credit to and thank David Dettmann for being my co-host and for diligently seeing to the recording of this webinar and posting it on His Youtube Channel.

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Working From Home: A Thank You to David Dettmann

10/12/2011

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David Dettmann

I bet right now many of you are asking yourself "What does Working From Home have to do with A Thank You to David Dettmann?"
That is an Excellent question! You see I met David Dettman last year through a program called Marketing Survival Skills and since that time He and I have become great online friends. He has also become one of my mentors and a very prominent one at that. He is actually responsible for that lovely picture you see of me over to the right ------> and for helping me improve my blogging skills, He often reviews and makes comments on them and has giving me many pointers. But most of all David Dettmann is solely responsible for getting me into doing live webinars and encouraging me to reach out to help others. Let me tell you this was no easy feat!

Thank You David Dettmann

The first webinar I actually hosted, David Co-hosted, actually he started the meeting. Now I host a members only webinar for Marketing Survival Skills every Wed. night. I owe a lot of what I do online and how successful I am at it, to David Dettmann. The best part is that David makes no money off of me. Apart from MSS, we are in no other company together. He helps me because he is dedicated to helping others to succeed online. He believes that the best way to get ahead is to help others get ahead, even if you don't make anything off of helping them.

I have seen him help others in MSS many times and I often refer people to his bonus tips videos for advice on how to do things online. David Dettmann lives by his motto "I help average people online" He believes in it so much that he has spent many, many hours dedicated to creating a tool bar for helping marketers, or anyone really, to connect quickly and easily to every social media site, and just about any online marketing tool you could every need. In fact if you know of something that isn't on the toolbar and should be, all you have to do is tell him and he will put it on. The tool bar is free to use for anybody too! TheSocialNetworkToolBar.com and he has even created a way for you to personalize it a little with your own business needs.

Thank You David Dettmann

So as you can see, David Dettmann has a lot to do with my Working From Home series. His toolbar is a great asset for any marketer. He has been, and will continue, to be one of the best mentors I know. He also has his own webinar Called "Saturday Night live with David Dettmann" You would do well to connect with David so you too can glean from his wealth of knowledge. David Dettmann's Facebook, Skype: dcompanyau, Google + ,and His Website

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Working From Home Series: Update

9/18/2011

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Update

One of the great benefits of Working From Home is that when life starts demanding more attention in other areas, you can take off from work and know that when you are ready your "work" will still be there waiting on you when you return. Recently I have had a series of events that have kept me away from the computer and thus kept me from doing a lot of work. Of course the downside is that there was no one else to do the work for me so it piled up a little, but with a little extra pushing I was able to get caught up in a short amount of time.

While I was gone I did finish the term I was at college and am happy to say that I made a 4.0 in both "Digital Tools for the twentieth century" and in "Arts and Humanities for the twentieth century and beyond." I now have 4 ten week terms, of two classes each, to complete and I will be done with my degree! Fortunately, I have learned in the last year and a half that when life throws you a curve ball don't be afraid to change the name of the game. So it was easier on me to find something else to do and take advantage of the time I was laid up, than it would have been a few years ago.

Updates: Change

Sure, Changing the game is not easy and sometimes its hard to see the benefits. But if you will take a moment, not fight it and look at what is going on, you can usually find a clear direction to go in through all the chaos & changes.

What's that?

You want to know what kept me away?

Well...In a nut shell I spent some time at our beloved hospital for an allergy related asthma attack, mother nature decided to stir things up with a freakishly rare earthquake {in which my legs decided that it would be fun to ride the staircase in a weird position enduring one of the aftershocks} followed by stormy Hurricane Irene, both causing temporary interruptions in internet signal. So when I finally did get back online I was a week behind, finals due at the end of week 9 and we were already on week 7.
So I had two weeks to catch up, complete the currently due class work and finish both final projects, without getting any further behind. I could have taken an extension but would have lost my perfect 4.0 for doing it. So working from home was put on hold till further notice.

There were some benefits to being offline!! I got to spend quality time with a dear friend, who stayed with me while I recovered, finally got started on sorting through the many boxes I had moved from storage in June (I could do that from bed) read a book I have been wanting to read and learned that I can get the same amount of work done in half the time if I really apply myself.

All these events reminded me that life can change at a moments notice, so I should stop putting off till tomorrow what I can do today. Also I now have one more reason to continue Working from Home: I can take as much time off as I need without being fired & in this case, I still earned a paycheck even though I wasn't "working."

Update:Lessons Learned

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Working From Home Series #3: Learning By Leading

8/5/2011

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Working From Home Series #3: Learning By Leading

Learning By Leading

The number one most important thing I learned about working online was to Learn By Leading.This has proven to be the key to what turned my success around on the internet.

I don't mean that you should pretend to be something that your not. People will catch on really quick if you say your a pro and your not.But rather that when you hear of something you don't know or are asked something you don't know then go and look it up and find the answer. Then you can tell the person that asked what they need to know. By acknowledging your limitations while actually finding the answer will build respect for you and give credibility to what you say because people will see you as being honest and upfront.

Learning + Leading = Success

Another one of the benefits of Learning by Leading is that as you are teaching you will embed the lessons you are giving into your brain further because you are reinforcing what you know. Over time I have found that as I offer someone the information they need, I learn new something myself.

Finally, helping others to solve their problems, regardless of whether it will benefit you financially or not, will show others that you care about them and that one fact will cause others to want to help and support you. When one of those you help is looking for something and they see that you have what they want they will come to you to get what they need because you have established a relationship and they trust you.

Kathy

I invite you to check out the training program that taught me Learning by Leading. click here

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Working From Home Series #2: A Nudge for Change

7/30/2011

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A Nudge for Change: A lesson from my kitchen

A Nudge for Change

My friends eat organic, all natural food, without a lot of oil or frying and they have been after me to eat more like them. So tonight I thought I would try to do it their way...I put in chicken tenders (unbreaded) in the oven about 20 minutes after I put in the baked potatoes, and put green beans on the stove on low. I was so sure of myself and that my friend would like my meal....
But what I got was not what I expected:
The tenders were dried out because I had left them on just a little longer cause when I cooked them in the toaster oven (on the oven setting) they got crispy and when I checked them in the oven they weren't crisp yet. The funny looking "Green Beans" turned out to be peas, still in the pod, and they were not done because I forgot to turn them up the last 20 minutes and The potatoes needed at least 30 minutes more of cooking, after everything else was done, because I didn't set the temp. high enough

Lesson Time

But its all good we managed to "save the meal" anyway. My friend put her chicken on a sandwich and got a salad, she ate her potato 30 minutes later and I did what I normally do... threw it all in the microwave and nuked it. Popped the peas out of the pod at the table and enjoyed.

In my defense:
I have never seen a bag of frozen peas still in the pod before, they looked like funny green beans to me and I haven't baked a potato in years...microwaving is a much preferable option when it comes to that matter, and until today I didn't know that the "oven" setting on a toaster oven was not the same as the Oven. (I had rarely used a toaster oven before moving in here two months ago.) Truly, I swear, I remember somewhere in my past that cooking potatoes on 350 for an hour was enough time.

Lesson Time:

In doing this, I am intrigued by how something as simple as cooking can change so much over time without us even realizing how much that change has affected us. I did not grow up "nuking" my food, and while I am no fancy chef, after cooking meals for 20 some years without a microwave I am confident I can cook a decent meal... Or at least I was confident. ((smiles))

Keep Nudging Just a Little

It is amazing at how little things can seep in and start to push you in another direction and they just keep pushing, a little bit more as time goes by and before long, you are into a totally different way of doing things without even realizing it.
It begs the question to be asked: "How many times have I been pushed, just a little, here and there, till I changed something about myself and didn't know it?"
Then you have to ask "How many times have I pushed someone, just a little, here and there till I got them to change and/or do what I wanted?"

Then apply this to life, both personal and professional and realize that when you get a "no" answer or hit a "wall" Don't write that person off or give up. Just keep pushing, just a little, more and more, each time and who knows? Maybe, before long, you will be able to look back and see where some changes have been made and caused other things to happen...
Just like what the modern technology of the microwave did to me.

By The Way:
If it had been up to me I would have sliced the taters and put them and the chicken in a pan to simmer in margarine, garlic and 21 solute spice mix till nice and tender and thrown canned green beans into a bowl and nuked them.

What can I say? My Mama didn't call me a "grocery store junky" for nothing and this meat loving, pre-prepared and pre-packaged, microwave loving, modern day girl, has got a lot of re-learning to do. Because if I know my friends, they are gonna push, just a little, every day till they see some changes in me!

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Working From Home Series part 1: My Tips for Stress Relief

7/9/2011

11 Comments

Keep a Positive focus

Working From Home Series part 1: My Tips for Stress Relief

So you’re a marketer and you love the fact that you can work from home and all the benefits that go with it. But lately you haven't been getting as much done, you feel stressed a lot of the time and you thought working from home was supposed to be stress free. The truth is that working from home is less stress than working for someone else in a job, but there are some stressers that can affect you. They are different than that dead end job you worked where no one appreciated you and you spent more money on gas getting there than you made. But none the less there is stress and I would like to offer My Tips for Stress Relief.

Where's your focus?

My Tips for Stress Relief: Stressers

1. Your friends think that because you work from home that means you are available 24/7 to do whatever they need or to talk to them on the phone.

2. Outside things tempt you away from the computer, housework, kids, running errands and Oh yes, let's not forget that television that you leave on "just for the noise."

3. If you are a social media marketer then there is also the ever present temptation to get swept away by games and seeing what everyone else is up to online. I know, chatting and building relationships is the name of the game, but there is a difference between building a relationship with someone as a potential customer/associate and chatting with your dear friend Bobby Jo about what happened last night at the bar or which item on the farm gifts list you want her to send you next.

4. Being a self-motivated, organized boss that shows up everyday and puts in the effort to make things happen produces stress too because if the work doesn't get done no money comes in you have no one to blame but yourself.

5. Let's not forget the financial stressers. You thought this was going to solve all your financial woes, really fast, without you having to spend a dime, right? But that didn't happen exactly as planned. Your somewhat of a success but there is stress because you have to spend and you were not an overnight "I got rich" success story.

Now that we have discussed some ways that you experience stress from working at home let me assure you. Yes! Working at home is still better than going off to work a job, where you earn more money for someone else than you will ever bring home from there yourself.

Be Happy

And You don't have to worry about how your going to get to work or spend money at "the priced to high" gas pumps and if you want to show up to work in your pajamas with a cup of coffee and a plate of food, no one will care.
Unless you have your webcam on of course. -------->
Now how about those Online Marketing Stress Solutions I mentioned in the beginning.

Life is Good

My Tips for Stress Relief:

According to "The World's Greatest Treasury of Health Secrets" by Bottom Line Publishing (2009 edition), the way to influence how stress affects you and shorten its duration is by having a healthy sense of control over your life and where you are headed. The following are some tips I use to accomplish that.

My Tips for Stress Relief #1
This one is relatively straight forward and I am sure you have heard it before. Be Proactive and schedule your work time into shorter time spans that allow for you to do other things like: being available when the kids get home, watching tv or house cleaning.

My Tips for Stress Relief #2
It is good to take breaks for yourself, even if its just walking away from the computer/phone/work space for 5 minutes to clear your head and take a few deep breathes. This will allow you to clear your thoughts and refocus on the task at hand. It is essential though that you do not allow these breaks to include, games, television or hanging on Face Book. These things provide a perfect distraction that will quickly eat up your day. Refer back to tip number one and schedule a time for each of these tasks so the temptation is not so great.

My Tips for Stress Relief #3
Be assertive and know when to say no. Tell your friends and family the hours you are working and expect them to honor that. If they have a problem adjusting just gently but firmly remind them and offer to do whatever they wish at a time when you are off work. Remind them that you are the boss and if you don't do the work it won't get done and no work, means no money.

My Tips for Stress Relief #4

Build your confidence in yourself and understand that you are not going to be able to please everyone, but you will please no one if you are trying to be everyone's best friend and do it all. Remember kids do deserve your time, but they also need to learn how to entertain themselves, to share your time, and how to cope with the word "no" to be well rounded, happy and caring adults.

My Tips for Stress Relief #5
Learn to be happy with life. Sure bad things happen, but when they do ask yourself "Is stressing over this going to change anything? Is it worth dying for?" (Stress causes more health issues than anything I am aware of) then let go of the things you cannot change, deal with what you can and move on, and remember my favorite motto:
"It's not about the good or the bad, we all have both on a daily basis, It's about where your focus is. Where's yours?"

As soon as I realized that one statement was true my life changed and I was able to see all the things in life that were good that I had previously missed and let go of the things that were wrongly stressing me.

My Tips for Stress Relief #6

Stop believing the hype telling you that you don't have to do anything and searching for that pot of gold under the rainbow:
You can't get something for nothing, I don't care what anyone says. You can start out with little to no expense and if you want to but you will have to work really, really hard at it and spend long hours of your time "working" the business so you can make something. But eventually if you want to hit the big time you will have to invest something to get more of something. So be prepared, have a plan of action, outsource the more tedious daily tasks or things you aren't good at and make a budget of what you can afford monthly and stick to it.

And my final Tips for Stress Relief:

Learn to laugh at life. So you split the milk, its only milk and not worth stressing over. Laugh at your goof up, clean it up and move on.
Yes, the computer is acting like molasses on a cold day, don't just sit there and complain, look for answers and be happy you are learning how to fix it so you can teach others and make yourself look smarter. :-)

Know that with a little time and a few honest days of work the money will start coming in, you can do more of the things you enjoy in life because you not need to put in as much time working. And that my friend, is what makes the time spent building your work from home business worth it all.

To Your Every Success

Kathleen Cooley

To learn some really cool tips on building your marketing business click the link below.

http://marketingsurvivalskills.com/webinars/how-to-sponsor-1-rep-per-day.php?s1=kathleen

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Thank You David Dettmann

6/29/2011

1 Comment

Have you ever heard "why do you do that" when you are doing something that you are not being paid for? Or had someone tell you to "look out for number one?" Did you know that in marketing or life this line of thinking will not get you anywhere?

To be a good leader you have to be a great servant. Being willing to help others, even when it doesn't profit you, is the key to getting ahead. People will remember what you did for them and come back to you again and again. When you are doing something important or in business they will often participate and purchase from you because they feel they know you and can trust you. I don't help others to get ahead, I do it because its just the right thing to do. If I know the answer I would want to share it and make someone else smile and if I don't know it I go in search of the answer or someone that can answer it, that way I can learn as well.

The following video was done by an online friend that also provides help and a great free service to others...He is the creator of The Social Network Toolbar.com A great tool for online marketers, with everything a marketer needs right at their fingertips. He also does Bonus Tips by David Dettmann Short videos on a variety of topics that all deal with social media marketing.
Thanks David for your awesome video about Me and for all you do to help others be successful too!
Comments by David with the post of the video
"Thank You Kath for all your work with Mss and the Social Network Toolbar >>> Kathleen Cooley Rocks !!!" David Dettmann

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