Dear Colleague,

Perhaps you noticed, as I did that Martha Stewart got out of jail yesterday. The paparazzi has distributed photos of her re-entry into society by showing her with thoroughbred horses on her $16 million estate. The over aggressive photographers are probably working for a whopping $28,000 per year so they have little sympathy for the homemaker diva.

The news reports say that she will remain under house arrest with an electronic bracelet for the next five months. She can only leave her estate for a sum total of 48 hours per week.

I started thinking about "Lessons From Martha" just this morning over my Starbucks soy carmel macchiato and decided that I should share what I think Martha teaches us about persistence, marketing and life in general.

I didn't really pay a whole lot of attention to her trial. I don't know all the facts. I don't know if she did any wrong or not. I just know that under American law, she was found guilty, sentenced and paid her debt to society. And now we, the impressionable buying public get to see the re-energized, renewed, re-dedicated Martha.

Martha Lesson #1: Pay your debts. Pay your debt to society if you have done something wrong. Do your time. Take your medicine. Be gracious. Keep your head up and make the best of the situation.

Martha Lesson #2: Opportunity is everywhere. Can you say,"The Apprentice" with Martha? Donald Trump knows an opportunity when he sees it. He wouldn't be putting his name to the new Martha Apprentice show if it were not going to work. If Martha can create opportunities for the future while in jail, you can generate new sources of business everyday while operating in the free world.

Martha Lesson #3: Let the world know who you really are. We may never know every detail of her stay at Jail Hotel. However, we will learn the lessons she learned about how to get along with people and make the best of a crappy situation. It will be in her next book and I am certain that there will be a TV documentary about her jail time somewhere in the future. And of course, Martha will get the royalties from that. Make the best of the situation that you are in. Notice the little things that you didn't notice before and it will help you be yourself even more.

Martha Lesson #4: Marketing is an ongoing process. Marketing and promotion never sleeps. Just about the time I thought we weren't going to hear about Martha for five months, here publicist made certain that the American public remembered her for what she was. Martha's publicist even made sure we knew what she was about to become after her release. I suppose in some small way, even I am perpetuating her public awareness by writing about her in my newsletter.

Martha Lesson #5: Lose some weight, lighten up and start fresh once in a while. Reportedly she has lost 20 lbs. and is physically re-energized. Don't go to jail to do this, but get into the gym, start a walk/run routine, do pilates or join a yoga group. Do something to boost your energy and your self image. It will help you increase your sales and earning capacity.

Martha Lesson #6: Create a business that works without you. Martha's business may have suffered a little while she was in the pokie, but it certainly did not fold. She has created a set of systems and processes that work in her absence. If you had to wake up tomorrow morning and take the next 30 days off, could you? How about the next five months? Now that she is back, her business will only blossom.

Martha Lesson #7: Resilience is a beautiful thing. I imagine that Martha had some pretty emotional times over the last year or so. However, she must have the resilience of a steel vault door. How do you develop resilience? I say that you continue to test yourself. Test your boundaries. Test your limits. Congratulate yourself when you win and move on when you fall short.

Those are the Martha Lessons that came to my mind. By the way, I am not a big Martha Stewart fan and I don't know how to cross stitch or garnish a sea bass platter.

Ps. I hope you like my new E-zine layout. Send me your feedback.

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