thinc! positive Winners!

A special thank you to all the participants of the thinc! positive forum! We appreciate everyone's efforts to find the good stuff in a difficult economic environment, even when the good stuff may be hard to find! We are very pleased to announce the following winners:

First Prize, Amazon Kindle Wireless Reader

My Name: Chad Carrington

My Company Name: Chad Carrington

A little bit about my Company and what we sell: I provide consulting and technical expertise regarding technology to keep businesses running smoothly and making a profit.

A little bit about me and who I am away from work: My wife and I have 4 children, ages 11 - 18. We home school them all (graduated one last year), play a lot of games and like to take driving vacations together. My children and I love to hunt and hike. We all like to camp.

Something about me that no one knows: Well if I told you, then everyone would know!

Second Prize, 8 Gb Apple IPod Nano

My Name: Lynda Richards

My Company Name: Images by Lynda Richards, Hartford, IA,  www.imagesbylyndarichards.com

A little bit about my Company and what we sell: Photography’s my thing!  I love working with families, high school seniors, children and all. Judging photography at the Iowa State Fair has been a fun side line.  Learning new techniques and adding to my product line keeps me busy and attending Professional Photographers Seminars and training events keeps me up to date.  Come see me and let’s work out something fun for you!

A little bit about me and who I am away from work:   My husband is a farmer and my in home business works well for us.  I belong to several organizations including a garden club, photography club, social club and am a member of Community United Presbyterian Church.

Something about me that no one knows:  I am an avid reader!

Third Prize, iPod Shuffle

My Name: Jeff Newsom

My Company Name: None at the moment

A little bit about what I do and my previous work:The best job I ever had was in California as a senior designer at Superior Electrical Advertising. I got to work on a wide variety of levels in architectural, structural and creative design. I had the pleasure of writing entire sign criteria and guidelines ranging from local strip malls, to writing entire city codes. I would really love to do that kind of work again, but have found Iowa to be a little lacking on the creative employment positions. And in this economy, 20 years of experience is getting harder to justify as an acceptable.

A little bit about me and who I am away from work:  I was born and raised in rural Iowa and lived in Los Angeles, CA for the better part of the last decade. I was a daily surfer and miss the ocean and mountains with a passion. I love spending time with my 3 yr old daughter and watching her learn and grow. I love gardening, photography and furniture making if I ever had time to do any of it again.

Something about me that no one knows: I have a titanium spine, literally and figuratively.

Other prizes:

In addition, free small business coaching sessions were awarded to several participants with Des Moines' own Platinum Master Action Coach Monte Wyatt.  Monte ranks in the top 5% of Action Coaches in the US, and is passionate about helping business owners who want to make a positive change in their business.  Action Coach operates in more than 26 countries and has more than 1000 offices around the world.  The company is internationally recognized as the leading global business coaching firm. We recommend Action Coach to jump start your small business. Visit www.actioncoach.com to find a coach near you!

Congratulation to all of our winners!!!  Wishing you all a happy and prosperous 2010 in your business!

Change. Few people are fond of it, let alone thankful for it. It has been a tough year for the most seasoned entrepreneur. It is easy to run a business in fair weather with endless budgets. But true entrepreneurs are made when the environment heats up. Even if we evolve kicking and screaming, forced change can yield some surprising and unexpected rewards.

Think about it.  Opportunities still abound. Adverse conditions push us into new territories where we never would have thought to go. They cause us to see opportunities we never would have seen before. We improve our products. We improve our systems.  We emerge a lean, mean machine, better prepared for the next round in the fight. Increased obstacles provide the perfect climate for invention. Limitations forge real creativity. Unlikely heroes are born in crisis. Crises beget some of the best innovations. The best lesson:  We learn not to take even one customer for granted.

We believe a positive spirit is contagious. We believe in looking for the positive, even when it seems hard to find. And we hope the whole idea is positively contagious, because we have never met a truly thankful person that wasn’t truly happy.

So share an experience, lesson, or positive change that was born in adversity. It may be so small a change that no one else would even applaud, (but it’s a huge improvement for you). Post something small (like a song), that has helped you get through. It may help someone else get through. Small changes can change the world. A one-degree change is miles wide in future perspective.

Don’t be surprised if our Guest Author, Grace Guerilla, throws a banana to those with especially brave or creative posts. She is our Small Business Evolution Specialist, and she applauds healthy change. 

We use this opportunity to express our thanks for each and every customer and for each and every relationship we have gained throughout the past 21 years. Our success is yours.

 Prize Information:

All contributors’ names and/or email addresses will be automatically entered in a random drawing to win:

Grand Prize- Amazon Kindle Wireless Reader, valued at $259.00. And a $50.00 Kindle Store gift card to download your first few books.

Second Prize: An 8GB iPod Nano, valued at $149.00

Third Prize: A 2 GB iPod Shuffle, valued at $59.00

Fourth Prizes:  In addition to the prizes listed above, three local business owners will win a FREE consultation with Des Moines, IA area Platinum Master Action Coach, Monte Wyatt, valued at $495.00. You must be a business owner to win.

For more information on Action Coach, please visit www.actioncoach.com

Rules: No Purchase Necessary.  Post between November 25^th and December 16^th 2009. You can comment as often as you like, but your name will be submitted into the drawing once.  One prize per person. Winners will be contacted by email by the end of the business day on December 18, 2009. Winners must respond by 5:00 pm on Dec. 21 in order to claim your prize and provide additional information to enable delivery of your prize. Winner may grant permission to use their picture and comments in future marketing. We reserve the right to remove inflammatory and offensive posts.

The views and opinions expressed in blog posts in thinc! Blogging about Business are not necessarily the views and opinions of the thinc! blog or of Etc! Graphics Inc.