Finding a Business Coach (or Consultant)
For many of our early years in business I have to admit I did not really believe in hiring a business coach or consultant.
I think it was a mix of:
- Seeing it as an expense and not an investment,
- Not really trusting others as much as myself,
- The belief that I could figure things out myself (eventually).
When we finally did break down and enthusiastically hire a marketing and sales coach (consultant) we had a pretty iffy experience. Sure the guy was pretty decent in his field.
The problem was he was more concerned about maximizing the revenue from us and not […]
The Irrelevant Entrepreneur
In my last post (What the Flu Taught Me About Business) I talked about why it is necessary to think like an entrepreneur and make yourself unnecessary to your business’s success (at least for a period of time).
Many aspiring entrepreneurs and business owners will be tempted to take a very dangerous shortcut.
The Shortcut
It goes something like this. “I can’t handle all of the work I have to do” or “I don’t like doing these parts of the work.” The really forward thinking (i.e. brilliant strategic) ones will go “I create more value doing X than Y so I […]
What The Flu Taught Me About Business
The flu means fever, headaches, body aches, sore throat, upset stomach, bloating… (I won't go into all the details, you get it).
Usually the having the flu means it is very difficult to work, often for several days. And even when you can finally think straight, it often means another few days at home to avoid passing it on to coworkers or clients.
Even Clowns Can See Better Days
What happens to the work you normally do when you are sick?
What is the impact […]
Selling Without A Plan – Do You Have One?
Today I was part of no less than two discussions around closing and why it doesn't always happen. The similarities with my own recent experiences caused me to consider things a little deeper. I've been making these very mistakes at times.
You've got them seeing Snoopy. Now what?
The Big Event
By big event I mean a product demo, major sales call, public speaking, a seminar, a teleseminar, a webinar or any other event where you are bringing people in to feed your sales pipeline.
In many cases you are very focused […]
Finding “Your One True Purpose” (For Now)
Marry talent and passion and you have found your life calling.
Do what you love and nothing can stop you. Eternal happiness will be yours.
This is what some believe. What some have told me.
Your one true purpose.
Passions Evolve
I don't know about you, but my passion for things changes over time.
Sometimes I am really passionate about something at the outset but lose interest over time. Other times I have had lukewarm enthusiasm for something at the start and passion has built over time.
Passion is also a choice that is influenced by others in your life. Were you ever part of a band […]
Your Story: Communicating Value First
We are in the process of building out our new Manifast website. This is not the Manifast tool which is already quite mature and powerful, but our marketing website.
There are so many ways you could do it.
This is our approach.
Communicate the Value First
Seth Godin talks often about telling a story; best story wins. Chet Holmes talks about focusing on a core story with market driven data in "The Ultimate Sales Machine". Bob Burg and John David Mann talk […]
Doug Wagner: Certified Go-Giver Coach
(I’ve been bursting at the seams to announce this.)
I first met Bob Burg on Twitter. Then I read his blog posts. Then I read his book “The Go-Giver“.
“The Go-Giver” essentially nailed how I thought business (and business relationships) should work. Up until that point I wanted things to be like that but was not seeing “the real world” behave like that.
I signed up for the Go-Giver Retreat 2012 (Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3) and went in April. Everyone I met there was super wonderful; including the […]
Pivot: Strategic Plans Need to Adapt Quickly
We started out thinking that our Manifast strategy would be to use our business expertise to build a great software product. It would educate and "coach" businesses to work on the business. Business advisers, coaches and consultants would use Manifast to enhance how they work with clients and the pairing would benefit all.
We launched the product publicly in January 2012.
By March we shifted our marketing focus to working with business advisers who would in turn use Manifast to work with their clients. We would still encourage Do It Yourself (DIY) companies to use the tool as well.
More recently […]
Little Things Matter: They Add Up to Big Things
I recently caught some of the speakers at Susan Baroncini-Moe's Guinness World Record attempt at the longest uninterrupted web cast. As of this writing she is allegedly the new record holder.
I happened to win a free copy of a book for being quick on Twitter (live Tweeting quantity). My closest competitor did taunt me mid way through (her mistake). Not that I am competitive.
It just arrived the other day in a standard brown envelope. Upon opening the envelope I saw this:
Susan also […]
Wake-up! People ARE Your Strategy
It is not customers first. It is not employees first. It is not shareholder or owners first.
It is people first.
Take care of all the people and you are halfway to a successful business.
You can have the most brilliant strategy on paper. You can invent a killer product or service. Without the right team you are dead in the water.
Are you waiting for lightning to strike or doing the hard work of building your team?
HR is Not A Function or Silo
First the term […]