Defying the Gurus- Don’t Pigeon-Hole Me
Marketing wisdom and search engine optimization techniques suggest narrowing the definition of what your product does so that it falls into one (or a few) categories and search terms that people would use to find it.
I get that people search for things based on what they already know.
What if your product or service defies easy categorization? For example, lots of musicians don`t fit nicely into one genre. What if your product or service spans multiple categories?
We built Manifast to help people to build their dream business and in so doing, […]
Innovate, Imitate or Replicate?
You can either do things the way everyone else does them (imitate) or the way it has always been done (replicate)… or you can innovate and come up with something (hopefully) better.
We had this discussion today at our Manifast development team meeting.
When you are building a single user web application or one where only one person needs to interact with a piece of data at a time, things are relatively simple.
When you have an enterprise (even a small enterprise) software package where many people have to view and edit the same data, you have to address concurrency. Concurrency […]
12 Years in the Making – Manifast Your Dream Business
Only 4% of businesses make it past 10 years. Sunwapta Solutions just celebrated 12 years in business.
Woohoo. (insert fireworks,marching bands and the Flintstones).
For that I am extremely grateful.
This is also my 400th blog post and 2nd video blog.
It has been quite a rollercoaster ride over the years. Bootstrapping with a $100 initial investment. Not getting paid much for the first year(s). Long hours. Watching our baby grow… and stumble.
I wouldn’t trade it. It has been 12 years of University, Graduate School, Internship and Hard-Experience.
Because without this experience we would not have been […]
Chasing Lots of Rabbits is Not a Strategy
If you are a coyote and you are chasing rabbits and try to catch them all at the same time you are likely to come up empty handed and go to bed hungry. If you catch one first then catch the next one after that you are likely to be well fed for a long time.
Les McKeown (author of Predictable Success and The Synergist) just posted the following tweet earlier today.
It has a very important message because I think a lot of business […]
Fascination, Value and Relationships – Day 2 of the Go-Giver Retreat
The Fascination Advantage
One of the speakers I really, really wanted to hear was Sally Hogshead. However, due to the events mentioned in my last post I unfortunately only caught the last 15 minutes of her presentation. I can say that her message about how to fascinate using the 49 personality archetypes is powerful.
Mine is the Veiled Strength (Mystique and Power) which is only loosely related to being a Ninja.
Despite missing most of the talk I look forward to further understanding her work and figuring out how to use my triggers to fascinate.
The Law of Value
Power of Gratitude For Healing
Note: This post will deviate a bit from the normal business and personal development focus. I make no apologies. I write for myself just as much as I do for my readers, and I needed to write this even though it was hard, really hard.
The Hidden Event At The Go Giver Retreat
As I mentioned in my prior posts I went to The Go Giver Retreat in West Palm Beach in April 2012. The first day of the event was fanstastic. The speakers were awesome, I had the opportunity to connect with speakers and participants, and things were great.
I went for […]
Master Minds, Southwest & Receptivity – More from The Go-Giver Retreat
Master Minds – The Panel
(L-R) Dondi Scumaci, Sally Hogshead, Mark Sanborn and Bob Burg with Dixie Gillaspie (not pictured) as moderator.
"Two factors for success:
- Focus
- Reciprocity
Tension between who can help you and who you can help." ~ Mark
"Ask really hard questions" ~ Sally
"Solving a business problem" ~ Dondi
"Aligned with organizational priorities" ~ Dondi
"Info is easy, insight is powerful" ~ Unknown
Overall: Don't go it alone. Use master minds, coaches and mentors for personal and business success.
Colleen Barrett – All 5 Laws at […]
Influence and the Truth – Lessons from The Go-Giver Retreat
Like most people that go to a business conference, seminar or retreat… I tend to get very pumped up and enthusiastic. Then I get back to the office and get busy. Then after some time passes, most of the lessons are forgotten and put aside.
One way around this is to revisit your notes a while after the conference and reflect on the points that resonated the most with you. After you've done that, pick a few and figure out how to integrate them into your business and personal life by implementing and making them habits.
All of the speakers were truly […]
Things Change – Do You Really Notice?
Change is often like the fable of the frog in boiling water.
The frog starts out in cool water and the temperature slowly rises. As the temperature rises the frog should realize the trend and hop out. But because the change is gradual the frog doesn't notice until it is too late; poached frog.
The point is not whether this fable is true (or not or to go try it out).
My Observations
I went to West Palm Beach Florida to attend the Bob Burg Go Giver Retreat in April.
I first met Bob on Twitter. At the time I had around 50 […]
Essential Business Processes and Training for Excellence
At a certain point of growth, every business needs to start formalizing "how things are done here". These are your processes and systems.
In "Predictable Success" by Les McKeown, he pretty much says outright that you can't get to predicable success unless you put enough (but not too much) systems and processes in place (plus some other things).
Too many people think formalizing processes and systems means taking all initiative and creativeness out of business and replacing it with lowest common denominator bureaucracy. Or they think it means everything is handled exactly the same. Or they just don't want to […]