Enklings Studio

Share Our Strength - Strength In Numbers

A beautiful video by the Share Our Strength organization, produced by iStrategyLabs and my Twitter friend Zach Goodwin.

I'm really impressed by this organization and hope to get to know them more.

Simply,

Tim

Out Of Poverty by Paul Polak

Out of Poverty: What Works When Traditional Approaches Fail by Paul Polak

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
"Out of Poverty" by Paul Polak was an eye-opening book for me. The focus is on people around the globe making a dollar a day or less and also farms that were less than 5 acres.

The statistics in the book floored me. 85% of farms in the world, 445 million, are less than 5 acres. In China that percentage grows to 98%. My son-in-law and daughter are organic farmers with 8 acres of land they lease, but are currently using just a couple of acres. Helping out a little there has helped me see the tremendous amount of work they put in to get a few crops to sell.

Mr. Polak's idea to help the poor is simple: Help them make more money. Not by a hand out, but by a hand up. Produce inexpensive products that are designed specifically for small enterprises and farms. Sell them tools that are affordable for their dollar a day income that will triple or quadruple their income quickly. His company "International Development Enterprises" (IDE) has been doing this for twenty-five years. His methods are not in line with the international community trying to solve poverty in the world, but they work. From one acre farms to sidewalk dwellers in the poorest slums, IDE is finding ways to help people work smarter and bring themselves and their families out of extreme poverty.

For anyone who is interested in the eradication of poverty and hunger around the world, this is a must read book to see solutions in a much different light.

Simply,

Tim

View all my reviews.

Wix.com

When you get a chance, check out Wix.com.  Here's a simple and easy way for you to put up a very nice website quickly and inexpensively.  I'm using this for a couple of clients as well as myself. 

Simply,

Tim

Things My Children Taught Their Dad

I was thinking on my walk this beautiful Father’s Day morning that I’ve learned more from my kids than I’ve taught them.  I’ll probably be remembered by you for this one phrase: “You get what you get, and you don’t have a fit.”   I’m not sure that sums up what I’ve taught you in life, but being content and at peace is the one thing I hope you’ve learned from me.  What I have learned from you would take volumes to write, but here’s the short version – at least for today.

Lara, you’ve taught me what it means to be content in every situation.  You were always content with little.  You could spend a day, and still can, wrapped around a good book.  I still picture you in your room, slaving away at whatever project you had that day oblivious to hunger or the newest thing on TV or whatever your friends were doing.  You pour your entire life into the vessel in front of you at the moment.  I can see that rare gift in your life as a mom and a wife and I am so grateful to be able to watch.

Luke, you’ve taught me that life is to be held in an open hand.  Your passion for excitement, your commitment to your friends and your solid foundation of values show me what a wonderful man you have become.  I have seen in you that not gripping life too tightly will open up things that are impossible to do when you clinch.  I watch you work hard and play hard with a focus rarely seen in a man your age and I’m inspired to be a better man myself.  

Tia, you’ve taught me compassion.  You’ve always been the one to care for each of us and everyone you touch in a unique way.  From the mice the cat brings in to a far away child you sponsor, everyone and everything is touched by your gentle spirit and you always seem to know how to repair our brokenness.  You live life with fiery passion and peaceful compassion, a rare mix that I hope I can continue to learn from in watching your life.

Thank you, my kids, for teaching me what no one else could.

Simply,

Dad

Yep, I Really Do Twitter For Food....

So I'm eating a Novo's with the "Bunko Boys" last night and was naming off the companies I run accounts for on Twitter and Facebook.  The list is getting longer as so many small businesses don't really have time to worry about promoting on the internet and getting involved in all this new social media springing up.

The nice part about what I do is that I learn so much about each category that I can help in other ways - especially getting Organic Traffic from Google - the holy grail of Search Engine Optimization or SEO.  Free traffic to your website by just optimizing your site for searches is a great way to grow your business.

I still have some slots open to help set up, grow or run your social media as well as help you make your website traffic grow which in turn should translate to sales.  This costs less than you think, so give me a call at 805-748-1333 or email me at: tblair@enklings.com. 

By the way, the Thai Red Curry is spicy and fantastic at Novo's.  I'm paying for it this morning though. : )

Simply,

Tim

(My personal project Twitter For Food is coming again July 1st.  Skip a meal and use the savings to fund a Hunger Relief Organization)

The Footsteps of a Father

Fun Father's Day video I worked on with Sharefaith - hope you enjoy.

Simply,

Tim

Travels with Charley in Search of America - Steinbeck

What a great book. Steinbeck's journey across the U.S. in a truck and camper with his dog Charley is journaled here with beautiful insights into American life in mid century 1900's. At every stop along the way, Steinbeck brings out the character and characters of each region. His trip into the South is particularly poignant.

This is one of those books I couldn't wait to get to each day. Highly recommended.

I got this book used from AbeBooks.com and found this picture in the pages.  One of the reasons I love to get used books is that you never know what you'll find in them.  I used this as a bookmark while I was reading and got connected to this family in some way.  I'll probably never know who they are or where they are, but one of them might have read this book just prior to me reading it, so in a small way, we are connected.  That connection and the obviously happy situation they are in made this read even more enjoyable.  Call me crazy....  By the way, don't you love the thumb print!  Makes me laugh every time I see it, you just know the guy in the black vest is talking through his smile: "Your thumb is on the lens Martha!"  :-D

Simply,

Tim

Enklings Studio Current Projects

What am I working on these days?

Sharefaith

I'm a freelance writer and the marketing guy at Sharefaith, an online resource of visual media for Churches, Ministries and anyone who needs Christian images, clipart, PowerPoint Sermon templates, worship arts backgrounds and a host of other visual media.  I'm helping them with Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and also an overall marketing plan for growing the business.  It's a really cool business with some awesome people to work with.  You should check it out.

FILLERUP Marketing Communication

I'm just beginning to work with Beth Fillerup and Jamie Padilla at FILLERUP Marketing Communication to help local businesses to "Get The Word Out" about their products and services.  I'll focus on technology, social media and hopefully be able to help some small businesses with my experience in direct marketing, outsourcing and operations.

SLO Green Build

I'm volunteering new media services to help SLO Green Build reach a broader audience.  SLO Green Build is a non-profit organization that is focused on helping the community understand and implement Green Building practices in San Luis Obispo county.  I'm really enjoying working with these folks and helping them understand some of the best practices in social networking and website optimization.

SLO Grown Organics

My Daughter Lara and her husband Darin are Organic Farmers on the Central Coast.  They sell produce at the Farmer's Market in Arroyo Grande on Saturdays from noon to 2:30pm.  I 'm helping with their website and branding mostly, but every once in a while get to work on the farm also.  Darin has helped me a lot in my own suburban gardening effort - he really knows his stuff.  I'm looking forward to seeing their farm grow!

Mediterranean Harvest For Life / Global Institute for Transformation

These two businesses are getting off the ground in the nutrition and non-profit sectors.  I've been working with them as a board member and marketing/new media consultant for about 6 months or so.  Tim Mauer and Tom Hiller are the principles and are great guys to be associated with.  We're hoping to get some product in the marketplace before long in the nutrition business and to grow the ministry non-profit substantially over the next couple of years.  They also have a unique children's brand called "Sheep and Goat" that teaches children to help "the least of these" rather than focus on their own wants and desires.

Aging Vines

Still helping the start-up, Aging Vines with new media and technology mostly, though I also advise on the general business also.  Aging Vines is a sales and marketing company in San Luis Obispo County that helps boutique wineries get into new markets.  This is a growing business that we hope will be a great help to small wineries in this region.

Twitter For Food

This is my own effort to put into action my knowledge in social media to benefit "the least of these" by having people skip a meal and use the savings to fund hunger relief.  The first #twitterforfood event on the social networking site, Twitter, was June 1, 2009 and was a great success by getting thousands of people to focus on world hunger.  My plan is to host a Twitter For Food event the 1st of every month and grow the event into the millions.  I've already made some great friend surrounding this event and look forward to meeting many more.

The Life Simple

I'm still working on creating a book franchise that revolves around contentment and simplicity.  The brand, The Life Simple, resonates with so many people these days, especially in this economy and the wake up call all of us have gotten financially that we are headed in the wrong direction.  The message "enough is enough" will help so many who are struggling with life in the status quo. This also resonates with helping "the least of these" and also living sustainably which are themes in other projects I'm working on, so it's all grist for the mill.

As you can see, I have no shortage of things to work on, but I am aggressively looking to bring on clients I can help with new media marketing, SEO and basic business operations.  I believe I can help any small business in just about any industry reach their goals.

Give me a call at: 805-748-1333 or email me at tblair@enklings.com is you have any questions.

Simply,

Tim

#twitterforfood - What Meal Will You Skip?

The day is here!  It's June 1st in places across the globe and the buzz is happening.  With thousands of tweets about twitter for food, I'm am overjoyed with the response so far. 

Today should be a great day for a lot of us as we skip a meal, feel a little hungry and connect in a small way to millions of people every day that are haunted with the feeling of hunger for them, their children and loved ones.  While we skip one meal, they may have skipped days of meals, weeks even.  As we give, even a small amount, we'll be connected in this simple way with children across the globe. 

I hope this is more than a gimmick for you, a fad, a moment in the twitter limelight.  It is for me. 

Take a look at http://www.twitterforfood.com and join me along with a lot of others in skipping a meal today and using the savings to fund world hunger relief.

Simply,

Tim