When we get buried in the day to day, we often forget what we’ve accomplished and learned. It can seem like we are standing still, especially when you haven’t achieved one or more of you major goals. This is one reason why it is so important to do periodic reviews. It’s also one of the magical things about heading into New Years, as this holiday tends to make us think back over our previous year and forward to the next.
Looking back, 2009 has been a roller coaster
* New government which has created a ton of strife. New regulations and laws looming that will change the face of this country (I’ll leave it to you to decide if it’s for better or for worse!)
* The economy degraded even further, and any recov...
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The other day my wife and I were going through our business expenses. While this is a regular activity, this time we were challenging assumptions and looking for creative ways to cut costs while maintaining (or improving) our level of service.
One area that came up was our monthly payments to Aweber. When we first started out it seemed like an easy way to get started. One month for free. Only $20 per month until you really got things going. And compared to the other options we looked at it was a bargain. Heck, theautoresponders we looked at ranged from $497 to $1500. Ouch!
We looked to the “gurus” for advice, and the consistent answer we saw was “go with Aweber.” Let’s see…it’s cheaper, it’s e...
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Yesterday I reviewed Dan Boudreau’s book RiskBuster: Start or Grow Any Small Business, Wherever You Are With Whatever You Have, Right Now! Overall I was impressed with how Dan managed to go in depth while making the book easy to read. I was also impressed with the tools and forms that accompanied the book. If ...
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Last year I was approached by Dan Boudreau to review his book Business Plan or BUST! While I was initially hesitant, I found the book to be an extremely thorough tool to write business plans. How through? It is focused on writing a 25 page business plan, which is good enough to pursue venture capitol ...
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The other day I was asked how I could have the highest sales in the company yet I had the fewest quotes in our system.
There are two winners in any contest: the person who takes first place, and the first person to walk away.
Some people view sales as a numbers game, where the more projects you quote the more orders you win. They indescrimantly throw their time and resources after all projects. Most of these guys stink at sales and their numbers (and commission checks) reflect it!
My approach (and that of every high performance salesman I’ve met) is to focus on the winners. We pick the promissing projects and put all our resources into winning. We know that our time is precious. Unless an activity moves a key project closer to an orde...
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People who know me well are familiar with my views on college. I am a huge believer in obtaining your education, and have seen first hand the impact this can have on your career or your business. I’ve earned two bachelors of science degrees working full time with a young family, and my wife has earned her bachelors of science in business while being a full time mother. I’m not bragging, I’m just making it clear how much I believe in college education!
I also am not a big fan of the traditional college experience. When you look at the cost it is hard to justify. This is both for adults going back to school and for our children. If you follow the traditional college path the costs are staggering, and the traditional college ...
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So many of us stumble through life without really taking the time to think. I’m not talking about “should I eat steak or chicken tonight.” I’m talking about looking closely at issues and beliefs, reviewing the facts, possibly using a decision making tool (pro/con list, decision matrix, decision tree, etc), and thinking about all consequences (both good and bad). I’m also talking about events in life. Do you seriously think through the situation or do you just wing it?
In fact, a lot of us live our lives on autopilot. Our beliefs were given to us by parents, teachers, preachers, gurus, etc….How often do we take the time to examine those beliefs.
I’m not saying we throw out our beliefs. Many are good,...
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Frustration
It all boiled over. They were not really mad to each other, but one night it all came to a head.
When I talked to Bob the next day he was exhausted. They had talked – and sometimes shouted – into the wee hours of the morning, but it wasn’t tired due to lack of sleep. He was drained emotionally.
Bob and his wife had spent the last two years trying to start an internet business. They spent a couple hours each day on web design, blogging, etc…They read ebooks and watched videos. They bought books and attended seminars. Month after month they poured their heart and soul into their business, but it was for nothing. They had made no money to date and felt lost.
As we talked he revealed how much it had taken out...
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We weren’t sure what to expect. While I have been to more conferences that I care to remember, this was the first time we had been to an Entrepreneur Camp. Adding to the uncertainty was the lack of solid information on their website. Oh, it gave the date and time. It just was pretty vague on the agenda.
We arrived bright and early on Friday with a whole lot of expectations, hopes, and misgivings. While we hoped the event would be educational, it was the chance to network with entrepreneurs that excited us the most. We also were a bit concerned, as we have gone to “entrepreneur networking” events in the past that turned out to be nothing more than thinly veiled hard sells filled with amateurs, con men, and plenty of weird ...
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I met Norman two years ago. When we first started talking it was purely business. He needed good people to represent his company and we were looking for a great deal on equipment. Norman was the regional representative for Ektelon, the top racquetball equipment manufacturer. One of the main ways they promote their product and the sport is to sponsor players. In exchange for a great deal on equipment, the players are loyal to the brand, using only their equipment, wearing clothing with the company emblem, acting as ambassadors, selling equipment to players at the club.
It started out as a business relationship: he gained a team member who was a top salesman and teacher, he gained a top junior player with a ton of potential and a great attitu...
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