Archive for the 'Creative Thinking' Category

Apr 27 2010

Have You Inventoried Your STAFF Lately?

When times get tough, 

                                     

the tough get going,

                                             

but they also

                                      

inventory their staffs!

                                                                            

     It’s easy to do, costs nothing, takes almost no time, and can produce an avalanche of valuable sales and business contacts. Pass around a short survey every six months that asks the people who work with you what they’ve been learning lately outside of work, who they know, what activities they choose for family fun, what kinds of careers family members have… 

     With a little prompting on your part, and some representative examples you can offer to promote useful responses, you may learn nothing of value . . . but you could be astonished! And until you flat-out ask, you’ll never know. Your administrative assistant may have a brother-in-law who runs a company that’s a perfect fit with your business mission.

     Your operations manager’s sister might be married to a board member of a neighboring business you’ve considered courting for shared marketing expenses.

Maybe your shipping clerk or receptionist is active in the same church as a key supplier who’s been giving bigger discounts to your competitor, but you’ve never had enough of a shared personal connection to feel comfortable enough to approach her about it.

                                                                

     Why wouldn’t you know things like this already? Most people who are not running a business, or in sales, rarely think about networking, or have experience in the qualifying question process that’s usually needed to uncover valuable connections. It’s human nature to not volunteer “personal” information.

     You have a goldmine of untapped resources under your thumb. Start to draft your survey page.

     Avoid probing personal questions. Unless you have more than a hundred employees where processing answers could start to get unwieldy, avoid multiple choice or yes/no/maybe questions. Keep things open-ended and “optional” so no one feels you’re poking around to get in his or her closet. Explain that good business contacts can come from stretching awareness of existing resources, and that you would be very appreciative of any information shared, even if the respondent didn’t consider it valuable.

Who do you know in your neighborhood, or your family or immediate circle of friends that might have some work or career connection with our three major prospects/customers?

Would they mind if you or someone from your organization contacted them or used their name to make contact with that prospect/customer to help open up a channel for dialogue about the services/products we offer?

What would it take for that to happen?”

                                                                                       

     A question flow like this will of course get answered more enthusiastically and more thoroughly when you can provide some reward — a bottle of champagne, a day off, a charitable donation in that individual’s name, a percentage of potential sales commission, a small piece of some resultant new revenue stream that a connection produces. Use your imagination here.   

     The bottom line is the old reminder that you never get anything if you don’t ask for it. And when you do ask, you may be pleasantly surprised. What’s the worst thing could happen, the questions produce no contacts? At least it will serve to get people thinking.

Comment below or Hal@BusinessWorks.US 

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You!

Make today a GREAT Day for someone! 

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Apr 15 2010

Small Business Social Media Rampage MYTH

Only 16%

                          

of Thirty Million

                                                      

US Small Businesses 

                                            

Use Social Media!

                                            

     We have already recently heard that fewer than half of America’s 29.7 million small businesses actually have their own websites, and were astonished. When you’re clicking back and forth to your own and other sites all day, it’s incredulous to believe that everyone else is not. Well, now we have more fuel for the opportunity fires.

     Results of a poll http://bit.ly/bWvym3 commissioned by EMPLOYERS, a small business insurance company, was reported today in Angelique Rewers’ final edition of  The Corporate Communicator (rolling over next week into her new online publication, “BRILLIANCE … Rich, Smart and Happy” — Watch for it. Angelique is a sensational writer and online publisher!).

     The poll is a reality slap! 

     Bottom line: You thought the whole world was TWITTER and Facebook crazy and that any business worth their salt had to be heavily engaged in this explosive new media form with knock-’em-dead marketing messages and links galore. Not according to the 500 small business owners and managers surveyed:  the total number of small businesses using social media for marketing is hovering somewhere around a very unimpressive 16%.

     But what does this mean? First of all, consider the vast untapped market potential this information suggests. What a fantastic opportunity this awareness serves for those who focus their businesses on Internet marketing development, and on small business development and related services.

     Just consider the prospect pool. There are more businesses out there who need what you have than there are those who already have it, and clearly everyone will at some point down the road indeed have both feet in the websites and social media arenas.

     Now add to that mix those who already have websites and social media savvy. They either do or will soon need overhauls, updates, upgrades, revitalizations, and expanded, pizazzed-up, better-functioning services. Nowhere does this ratchet up service needs more profoundly than with content development (copywriting) because word content is king in the visual world of the Internet. [If you need help with this and you’ll pardon my brashness, you can find my rates and services at www.TWWsells.com]

     To top off the survey findings, the majority of small businesses leveraging social media are finding it effective, more than half those interviewed believe that having a social media presence is important, and nearly 60 % who do use it say it has provided value to their businesses. So, how much farther does the gauntlet need to be thrown down to you, for you to consider crossing the moat?

     What are you waiting for?

Comment below or Hal@BusinessWorks.US Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You! Make it a GREAT Day! 

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Apr 14 2010

QUIRKY BOSSES SUCCEED

Yes, “quirky” works.

                                                                                                               

Save that tablecloth!

                                                          

     In between rocket-blasting stints with Madison Avenue’s two biggest and most successful ad agencies in history, I once worked as new business director and assistant to the chairman of a rather inconsequential yet highly profitable New York advertising firm. My boss was the number one guy out of three partners. The other two hung out and acted important. My boss was the one who made the sales and brought in the money.

     I never learned much from him except that it really is possible to be successful even when you have no obvious success traits or qualities, as long as you are a stupendous listener, and can be totally quirky. The old man had no redeeming characteristics to speak of but he was both quirky — accentuated by a cartoony voice and over-the-top animation that seemed to ooze incongruously out of his 3-piece suit — plus he was an outstanding listener.

     Three or four days a week, I found myself in the arguably envious position of getting fat by being his sidekick at exorbitantly expensive lunches he hosted at the best restaurants in Manhattan. He invited clients and prospective clients as guests. I was his Boy Friday but he actually encouraged me to talk up agency credentials and experience, setting the stage for his “pitch” at dessert time.

     What he had to say was always on target, but it came only after intensive listening, interspersed with squinty-eyed questions from over the tops of his reading glasses, and requests for examples and diagrams. He made copious notes with marker pens . . . on the tablecloth! 

     In between courses’, he would engage the help of a waiter or two to turn the table covering, drip spots and all, clockwise so he’d have clear writing space for each part of the meal. When lunch ended, he would tuck a $20 bill into the Maitre D’s hand and neatly fold the tablecloth up, tuck it under his arm as he did all the handshake/smile stuff and head for a cab that I would have waiting at the curb.

     When we got back to the office, his secretary would unfold the tablecloth, tack it on the wall over her workspace and type out everything he had written, rising periodically to turn the cloth and re-tack it (lots of pinholes in the wall!). She would enlist one of the designers to recreate any diagrams. The Boss would prioritize items on her draft and identify them as Objectives or Strategies or Tactics the have a final version typed up.

     The typed copy was distributed to all who had any experience with or interest in the business being courted, followed by a meeting, and a summary returned to the lunch guest reiterating the key points, tying them of course to sales points. Often this document became the “working bible” for developing the advertising for an existing client for a full year or more, and often it won new clients.      

     Should we all run out and start writing on tablecloths? Maybe, but the point is that whatever you do to be better at running your business doesn’t have to be something that’s considered “normal” by others, and you need not worry or care about what others say if the system works for you. Someone else I worked for routinely cell phone called his desk from the golf course to leave himself message reminders of sales prospect conversations he would follow up on the next day.

“Quirky” Works.  

Comment below or Hal@BusinessWorks.US Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You! Make it a GREAT Day! 

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Apr 07 2010

Selling Services? REINVENT YOURSELF!

“Go West, young man!

                                                          

Then South, then East,

                                                  

then North, then West

                                           

again, then . . .”

 

You may think you’re a creature of habit and that you have your daily routines to follow, but as truth will have it, you consciously or unconsciously reinvent little pieces of yourself every day by choosing the clothes you wear and the foods you eat, the ideas you think about, and even the people you choose to smile or snarl at.

So, you’re already on the path of reconstruction. How about re-visiting the parts of you and your business that are most exposed to others, and decide if those parts are really holding their own, or if maybe it’s time to consider reinventing yourself . . . or your storefront, or your website, or your business name, or your logo, or branding identity, or lineup of services you offer, or the ways you communicate your business message to the the outside world?

I learned that most successful entrepreneurs, and particularly those with service-oriented businesses — whether run from a garage, a kitchen, a fancy office, a warehouse, or the back of a truck — are those who work at staying flexible and at communicating that flexibility to their investors, employees, and customers with the frequency of a Twitter Tweet.

In applying that thinking over the years, I changed the name and identity of my business many times to best fit changing operational logistics and market dynamics. When I left the NY ad agency life for NJ college professorship and was still restlessly seeking a more entrepreneurial existence, I went into business to compete with the college that I believed was too invested in status quo curricula, and I started UNcollege.

As more businesses sent participants to the nontraditional instructional programs UNcollege provided, I switched gears to become Management Training Center. When the recession wiped out business training budgets, I segmented the training programs and took them onto the air waves with my own daily radio show, BusinessWorks On The Air, then into editing Business Talk magazine, as I folded Management Training Center into BusinessWorks.

The media exposure drove more business startups and revitalization consulting and marketing projects my way and BusinessWorks  evolved to specialize in healthcare practice development work. I wrote and published two well-received “doctor” books and opened HealthCareWorks.

As my writing turned more literary, and then more marketing focused, I closed down BusinessWorks and HealthCareWorks and opened my four year-old business, TheWriterWorks.com, LLC. which hosts this blog site and www.BusinessWorks.US and within a week will add a third site while participating as partner in two other upcoming online ventures. I now write business websites, ads, news releases, articles, and books . . . and specialize in reviving struggling organizations with customized ENTREPRENEURIAL LEADERSHIP consulting services that get results!

None of this is job-hopping, or suggesting of insecurity or fly-by-night businesses. It is the layering on of ongoing knowledge pursuits with fresh, new-look entities — each providing better, more targeted services than the last.

Has it been easy? No. Worth it? Yes. Exciting? Yes. Challenging? Yes. Has it cost client relationships? No; it’s called: “Stay in touch!” Has it cost reputation? No; I’m still me and I still deliver overkill value. Has it opened more doors? Yes.

Reinventing what you do is a reasonable risk because it’s not changing what you do; it’s changing the ways you communicate what you do to better apply your services to take advantage of market need opportunities. Scared? Stay as you are. Bored? Reinvent yourself by challenging the business you currently run to be as spirited as the business you once started.

# # #

Hal@Businessworks.US  931.854.0474

Open  Minds  Open  Doors

Many thanks for your visit and God Bless You.

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

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Apr 05 2010

“It’s not my job!”

So, ARE you the Boss, or not?

(Part I of II)  
                                                                                  

     Other than bad news from your accountant, there’s very little you can hear that’s worse than, “It’s not my job!”  Nor does it make any difference which of those four words is most emphasized (and of course the absolute worst place any boss can hear these words is when an employee says them to a customer!).

The example, though, serves to make a point:

You’re “The Boss” . . . What’s YOUR job?

 

     If you want to start making more money by tomorrow morning, you’re going to have to change a few things. If you’re going to change a few things, you have to be very clear and keenly aware of what exists right now — beforeyou charge in with your wheelbarrowful of shovels, dynamite sticks, battering ram, hammer and nails, concrete, and power tools.

     Probably the most important first step (which, by the way, takes at least 3-6 seconds!) is to accept the fact that the sooner you can get yourself to STOP thinking of yourself as a “business owner” or “operator” or “manager,” the quicker you’ll get to that money-making part. Why? Because . . .

Because  the minute you think of yourself as some title, like “the owner,” there are certain defined behaviors and privileges that go along with that title, and each of those is limiting.

They unconsciously require you to behave in certain ways.

They actually block you from exercising your true entrepreneurial pursuits, your innovative ideas, and your ability to move your business forward in high gear.

 

     To put aside your self-imposed limitations, you must first put aside your thoughts of being “the owner/operator/manager,” and start to think of yourself as more of the free spirit that started your business, or that started working with it from that very first day. Remember that? You were all cranked-up and uninhibited in your thinking?

     Forget about what happened since then and focus on where you are right this minute. And as for “down the road,” if you know where you want to end up, don’t waste time checking the finish line; stay with your heartbeat and pulse and breathing! 

     This “New You” also needs to throw off any and all “Get Rich Quick” schemes. Reality note:There is no such thing! Forget about all those slick email and Twitter and Facebook and YouTube come-ons and one-time-only deals that promise transformation of your life and business into an overnight kingdom for just four easy payments of $29.95.

     Instead, you might give some thought to what you could do for your your business yourSELF for the $119.80 [oh, right, “plus S&H” . . . or now it’s “P&H” . . . “P” for Processing. Apparently “Shipping” is now free and you pay only for “Processing.”  Hmmm, “Processing” PLUS “Handling”? Aren’t employees PAID to do “S” and “H” and “P”?  Is somebody double-dipping?]

     Okay, here it is. This is what you’ve been waiting for . . . 

          To get ready to make more money starting tomorrow morning: 

1) Start focusing on what you can do immediately to shed your mental cloak of limitations that revolve around BEING (insert your title), and instead take 3 bold, positive steps toward framing your business in some exciting new, more realistic, more authentic, more transparent directions.

2) Order more deposit slips. 

 Comment below or Hal@BusinessWorks.US 

 Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You!

Make it a GREAT Day for someone!

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Mar 29 2010

How’d you use last night’s 2 hours of dreams?

Yes, by popular request,

                                          

we’re back on “dreams”

                                             

(Part 2 of 2)

                                                                                                     

     Yesterday, we explored the subject of how our estimated 2 hours of nightly dreams can be productive sources of personal and business growth, and that the first step toward making that work is to keep a “Dream Journal.”

     If you’re back for more of that subject, I hope to not disappoint you. If you were seeking a different topic, come back tomorrow, thanks for visiting, and happy dreams tonight! Today, I’d like to share some insights I’ve learned about how to interpret what you dream. Not to worry: I promise to not shrink you out, and tomorrow, we’ll be headed back to reality.

     Anyway, this input offering isn’t going to turn you into some mystical guru or stage personality, and there’s not nearly enough substance to start calling yourself a therapist, but here’s a little more chatter on the subject, and a few basic applications that just might open a door or window, or might send you off to some Googleland searches.

     First, be aware that interpreting dreams is, I think, like mining for gold. Sometimes the payoff can be spectacular. And like the lottery people say, you can’t win if you don’t play. (I am not a lottery advocate; it’s just that sometimes we can get good ideas from bad sources.) But, odds are you’ll find a gold nugget or two that can prove helpful to you which — in the end (or beginning or middle?) can also prove helpful to your business.

     I had the good fortune years ago to participate in a small group study program with Clara Stewart Flagg, one of the world’s foremost educator-authorities on dream interpretation. She represented the following thoughts, which continue to be relevant and repeated, still, by experts today: 

     Look for the double-barreled meaning of dream words, she said. “Being in a bar” may translate to “What’s barring me?” or “walking around the block” may have some bearing on “what’s blocking me?” Dream numbers can have peculiar applications; “1924,” for example, may suggest adding the individual digits to get “16”; what happened at age 16?

     Likewise, predominent colors can suggest characteristics (e.g., brown:tight; yellow:cautious/withholding; gold:possessive; red:emotional; light blue:cool; dark blue:authority, etc. Cars, said Flagg, “are an ongoing self energy symbol . . . faulty parts are faulty self-parts.”

     She equated visions of eating red meat with “good energy,” fish with good sexual energy, vegetables-with-seeds as fertility-related. Water, Flagg claimed to be “mother-oriented.” Dreams of dead people should spur answers to the question: “Why are you here?” or “Tell me something of value here!”  Stairs interpret to stages/levels in life; a sign to look around and see what’s there, what’s left behind, what’s yet to go.

     “You don’t have to be stuck with the dream you wake up to; it can be improved . . . you are in charge. No part of a dream need be useless; make it useful; it’s your mind and you are always in control . . . Wear your dreams in good health!” 

     Oh, and don’t be afraid to look for the business apps in dreams. You do, after all, control both. If you choose to make dreams work for you and your business, they probably will. Like any other life and business development tool, it depends on what you make of it.

Comment below or Hal@BusinessWorks.US Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You! Make it a GREAT Day! Blog via RSS feed or $1/mo Kindle. GRANDPARENT Gift? http://bit.ly/3nDlGF

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Mar 27 2010

Hey, Taco Bell Fans: Think INSIDE The Bun!

Start with

                         

INTROSPECTION.

                                                        

Then, add the

                                 

decorations. . .

                                                                                                          

     There comes a time in every economic curve (and especially like now, where the curve has become a plummet) when we must stop the centrifuge that has our backs slammed up against the spinning wall. Nice imagery, huh? Ever feel like that, or am I just imagining things? 

     We need to step off, collect ourselves, take a deep breath, regain a sense of balance, and re-examine what’s going on with our business. You know, take a look at those activities (or lack of) that we haven’t paid attention to lately because we’ve spun ourselves into a state of dizziness (no I’m not talking about that dizzy state on the West Coast!)

     Management gurus seeking creative nirvana in their leadership styles have been urging us all for years to “think outside the box.” I disagree. I’ve watched an endless stream of business ventures think themselves out of the box and into financial quicksand.

     Contrary to their brilliant branding message, even Taco Bell needs to think “inside the bun” in order to ensure consistent quality of food ingredients, as well as service. Thinking INSIDE THE BOX is like circling the wagons, shoring up the foundation, strengthening existing connections and relationships, reinforcing the structural integrity of existing products and services, and promoting value-added innovation all at the same time.  

     It rivals the explosive levels of productivity that surface the day before leaving for vacation (ah, yes, vacations; I remember those).

     A truly great and successful, well-known man whose memoir I’m presently writing, always says (rather authoritatively): “You can’t do two things at once!” 

     I’m thinking about staring so hard out the windshield that you spill the coffee — or worse, reaching to balance the coffee and crashing into the car in front of you. Well, when it comes to business ownership and management, the expression is equally true. Thinking OUTSIDE the box takes you too far away from what you need to be focused on when cashflow is dwindling.

     I’ve often noted here that the best way to do this is with http://bit.ly/Bb1Tw which I guarantee will help you stay focused on what’s important. The bottom line is that you REALLY need to not leave home without it and the “it” is the part about first making sure your home is safely protected, that some one’s around to keep an eye on it for you, that mail and messages will get forwarded or saved.

     Thinking OUTSIDE the box requires that INSIDE-the-box operations are safe and sound and moving forward without you having to risk divided attention. It’s simple when you start with INTROSPECTION. 

Hal@BusinessWorks.US 

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You!

Make today a GREAT day for someone! 

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Mar 16 2010

UNPOPULAR COMMON SENSE

If Einstein

                                                                                                     

had been Alaskan,

                                                                                            

would he have been 

                                                                                                                          

wearing your shoes?

                                                                

     In finally getting around today to Sarah Palin’s best-selling book, Going Rogue, I was reminded early on that US Secretary of State William H. Seward bought Alaska from Russia in 1867 for $7.2 million (or two cents an acre) . . . well over half a million square miles (589,000 in fact) of mostly rugged (and then considered useless) wilderness.
     The unpopular purchase was publicly mocked and anointed as “Seward’s Folly.” But Seward, it turns out, had uncommon vision and great foresight.
     Decades later (and now, of course, the 49th State), Palin points out that Alaska ultimately produced colossal amounts of “gold and oil and rich minerals, along with the world’s most abundant fisheries.” She notes that Seward was “posthumously vindicated, as purveyors of unpopular common sense often are.”
     Let’s flip this historical tidbit into your own backyard, and explore what we learn.
     You run your own business. You have some terrific common sense ideas that you’re convinced can boost your business (industry, market) sky-high. But your family and your (formal or informal) advisory board considers you borderline crazy? They all agree that your newest business idea is too radical and far beyond having a realistic chance for success?
     You respect and trust their judgment and recognize that they have your best interests at heart, but — in the end, no matter the circumstances– your gut will prevail. Why? When none of them share your instincts, why? Because none of them are in your shoes. In fact, if they really were in your shoes, they’d be running your business instead of you.
     You got where you are because you have an entrepreneurial instinct, because you took reasonable risks, because you weren’t afraid to take up an unpopular cause that you believed in, because when others got too rigid or too flighty with their leadership, you always clung to using common sense.

Q. So how do you fly forward in the face of headwinds that seem determined to take you down?

A.The same way that you’ve done it before: forcefully AND gracefully (yes, both can work together). You need to move upward and onward in the directions you believe are right, but not at the cost of the input, insights, and guidance from those you honor and rely on.

     Claiming that if humans could use 100% of their brainpower, they would be able to separate molecules and walk through walls, neuro-scientists have further speculated that even Einstein never used more than 10% of his brain. (Whew! Imagine what percentage of brainpower each of us not-quite-Einstein-types use?). The man himself was often quoted as having said all we ever have is limited knowledge. 
     Okay, so limited common sense knowledge triggered by gut decisions. Sounds like a plan. Actually, it sounds like every successful entrepreneur who ever lived, from Henry Ford to Bill Gates. Measuring the Alaskan past and considering your present state of “craziness,” one might very well conclude what most of us know but most of us forget:

Forward motion as a human being and as a business leader

is always about having the courage of your convictions.

Just look around once to confirm that, then look inside your SELF to ignite what you believe in. 

                                  

# # #

                                                   

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Hal@Businessworks.US or 302.933.0116

“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson] 

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals. God Bless You.

Make today a GREAT day for someone! 

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Mar 09 2010

COLLABORATION (The New Business Mantra)

Are you playing

                          

with yourself?

                                      

. . . business is

                                  

a team sport!

                                                                                   

     Don’t you just love it when a word older than the Civil War makes a comeback and ends up on top of the heap? Collaboration. It’s the hot new buzz word in business. Who knew? It’s strategic alliance, cooperation, shared interests, communication, interaction, productivity, and teamwork all rolled into one.

     Whoa! And it’s not a legal, structured entity so there are no lawyers involved. What could offer greater promise for success?

     Did you think that just because you run your own business, you no longer need to worry about or deal with anyone else? Did you think “Solopreneuring” would or should render you independent? Did you think when you hung out your solo practitioner shingle, you could function completely on your own?

     No more. Maybe small business hasn’t yet caught up with the giant union-based companies feeding on bailout tax dollars, or the Silicon Valley techies housed in converted warehouses with coed bathrooms, and elevated bunkbeds hovering over their computer workstations. But small businesses ARE collaborative.

     Successful small business owners recognize they cannot withstand today’s economic forces with their incessant coastal flooding and gale warnings simply by hunkering down and having an inflatable lifeboat ready.

     Doctors (including those who directly compete) can no longer exist without other doctors’ referrals. Downtown business membership organizations (including many directly competitive retailers) work together to stimulate customer foot traffic. Online and offline services are sharing services with other online and offline services.

     Many compatible and/or competitive businesses are partnering up for centralized buying services in order to exercise greater clout in winning product and service quantity and shipping discounts. Many others share creative development talents. There are even collaboration website resources like http://www.collaboratingentrepreneur.com for small business owners (which is well worth a visit).

     Business employee alumni associations are cropping up with collaborative applications designed to capitalize on the life and career paths of former (retired or moved on) employees who have maintained loyalty and/or contact since leaving. New revenue streams and solidified client sales have evolved from these collaborations.

A FREE, do-it-yourself, 2-page Business Employee Alumni Association

How-To Guide is available via email to me at the address below.  

     The point is that if you’re playing with yourself (pardon the double entendre), you are living in the dark ages, and you need to come up for air, look around, and see how you can help yourself (and others) by combining forces, interests, and financial pursuits. No contracts, no lawyers, and no money required. Go for it!

Comment below or direct to Hal@BUSINESSWORKS.US Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You! Make it a GREAT DayGet blog emails FREE via RSS feed OR $1 mo Amazon Kindle. Gr8 Gift 4 GRANDPARENTS: http://bit.ly/3nDlGF

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Mar 06 2010

C’MON IN . . . IT’S SATURDAY NIGHT!

Your Moment of Truth

                             

is NOW!   

                                                                            

     Who’s reading this stuff on a Saturday night? YOU are. Why? Well, I can’t answer that one, but I can report that you’re not alone. Saturday nights are — believe it or not — one of the highest quality visitor nights here at BusinessWorks.

     I have to think it’s because entrepreneurs never sleep and are always looking for that innovative edge they can grab hold of . . . so, okay, here are some innovative edges:

     If you’re the geeky-type, intent on being the next great Internet-market guru, OR if you’re a down and out sales-type struggling to make ends meet, OR you’re a business owner-type who feels like you might have been losing touch with reality lately (like who hasn’t?), please allow me to offer the following advice: (Consider it my investment in wanting to see you succeed because you came here on a Saturday night.) 

1) GET OUT! Put down and turn off all the hi-tech trappings for just an hour a day and use that time to take the risk of meeting and one-on-one socializing with real living people. Go out for breakfast tomorrow morning and actually talk with the waitress or waiter and the people at the next table instead of texting your Facebook friends or Twitter followers.  

2) INSTEAD OF BRUSHING OFF THIS IDEA, and deciding it’s a waste of your time (and I guarantee you it’s not!), listen to what those around you have to say and how they say it. Withhold your judgements. Just listen and absorb. Clarify. Ask for examples. Take notes (with a real pen and paper pocket-pad!). Then go sit somewhere quiet and write down what you learned about your SELF in that process.

Go to a busy street corner and ask three people for directions. Listen to what they say and how they say it. Ask them if they would repeat the directions slowly enough for you to write them down because you’re not good at remembering things like that. Then go sit somewhere quiet and write down what you learned about your SELF in that process.

3) GET OUT OF YOUR OWN WAY! The best vehicle I’ve ever found (and I am now nearly 300 years-old!) is this one:   http://bit.ly/Bb1Tw  Do it! I promise you will NEVER regret this piece of advice. It may be the single most important thing you ever learn in your life, or are ever able to teach anyone else.

4) REMEMBER THAT THE MORE YOU CAN LEARN ABOUT YOUR SELF, the better you will be at dealing effectively with others, and you can never be a success in life (regardless of how you define “success”) until and unless you can deal effectively with others.

     These 4 suggestions go F A R beyond using cell phones and social networks, and F A R beyond wallowing in self-pity about how bad finances are, and F A R beyond being swallowed up by nonproductive, fantasy (non-here-and-now) thinking.

      It’s all about getting back to basic, real, in-person, human contact . . . no matter how much that threatens you. Because the moment of truth for your business and your SELF . . . is NOW!. 

~~~~~~~~~ Visit Hal’s Recent Guest Blog Posts ~~~~~~~~~

“Every Sales Pro A Small Business Owner” @ www.iSalesman.com ; “The SALES Snow Job” @ http://bit.ly/bYHmXx ; “Got A Sick Website?” @ http://bit.ly/6iYe6g ; “Leadership Puzzles” @ http://tinyurl.com/yfsczbk ; “What’s Your T-Shirt Say?” @ http://bit.ly/7K0s4a   

Comment below or direct to Hal@BUSINESSWORKS.US Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You! Make it a GREAT DayGet blog emails FREE via RSS feed OR $1 mo Amazon Kindle. Gr8 Gift 4 GRANDPARENTS: http://bit.ly/3nDlGF

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