Manifast Archives – Page 5 of 6

15 May 2014

Your Core Values: What Matters Here

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T11:21:29-06:00May 15th, 2014|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Go-Giver Coach, Manifast|

Core Values Business Strategy

Our company is in the process of further defining its core values. At times we have been the shoe makers children and put all our effort into our clients and not enough into ourselves; going barefoot.

This is a big mistake so we are making working on the business part of our business.

A lot of things may be important to you and your organization but certain things define you, say what you stand for, and what you won't tolerate.

Sometimes you […]

15 Jan 2014

The Key to Putting the “Action” Into Accountability

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-13T12:49:55-06:00January 15th, 2014|Categories: Doug's Blog, Leadership, Manifast, Mindset and Motivation|

Business person overwhelm help keeping up

You’ve set some goals. You’ve taken a little action. Maybe you’ve delegated some of the action steps.

If you are in the top 20% you’ve also put a little bit of accountability in place.

For yourself.

For your team.

The problem with most people is they easily lose focus and chase other things, leaving their goals unfulfilled while keeping themselves very busy.

The illusion of unfocused activity leading to success.

I am fortunate enough to have a great accountability partner. We […]

9 Jan 2014

The Dynamic Duo: Unrestrained Budgets and Accurate Forecasting

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-04T15:54:02-06:00January 9th, 2014|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Manifast|

Most people hate following budgets and think forecasting is for psychics. I used to think this and did both of these exercises because I had to, not because I was enthusiastic.

For a visionary entrepreneur this feels like it is like putting a box around you. How can you Manifast your vision if you are constrained from spending when you want to?

Unrestrained budgeting and accurate forecasting in business

Unrestrained Budgeting

How many of you use a budget to plan your […]

25 Nov 2013

Definiteness of Purpose: Holding the Vision

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-04T15:53:26-06:00November 25th, 2013|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Manifast|

In today’s fast paced, ever changing and distraction filled world the misguided perception is that the spoils in business go to the companies and management teams who can change direction the fastest; and most often.

As entrepreneurs, many of us are by our very nature attracted to new things and solving new problems.

Once an idea has been with us for a little while and we need to get down to the nitty gritty work part, the excitement wears off a little bit.

Then there are some setbacks or issues and things get a little less fun (mild understatement).

Boom, off to the next […]

18 Nov 2013

Entrepreneurs Must Push Through To “Yes”

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T11:25:05-06:00November 18th, 2013|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Manifast, Marketing, Sales|

As an entrepreneur you are often creating something new in addition to wearing the sales hat.

I recently read a great blog post by Bob Burg, "The Biggest Problem With No Isn’t The No". I was typing an epic comment when I realized, this is pretty much a blog post.

As an entrepreneur creating something brand new, "No" has two meanings.

The Sales No

"No, I don't want what you are selling".

The no in sales is hard enough. And no, I mean yes, I need to read Go for No (on the list).

If it has been sold by someone in […]

28 Oct 2013

Definiteness of Purpose: Key to Personal Success

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-04T15:59:09-06:00October 28th, 2013|Categories: Books and Courses, Doug's Blog, Manifast, Mindset and Motivation|

Many people I talk to inside and outside of business are looking for that elusive thing called success. Success is not defined solely by how much money you make. It is usually related to the pursuit of personal happiness, fulfillment and security.

Even people who appear to be focused on money usually have an underlying motive for something beyond the money. They might not know what it is, but it is almost always there.

In “The Go-Giver“, Bob Burg and John David Mann show us The Five Laws of Stratospheric Success. It is an excellent framework for achieving success and […]

27 Sep 2013

Learn, Teach and Preach

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T11:25:47-06:00September 27th, 2013|Categories: Doug's Blog, Go-Giver Coach, Leadership, Manifast|

There is a distinct difference between these three ways of imparting knowledge and inspiring people to take action both inside and out of your business. Yet, they are frequently misused.

Learn teach preach

Learn: You provide the information and situation to allow the person to draw their own conclusions.
Teach: You guide someone through the logic of the information to the conclusion you want to impart.
Preach (or Dictate): You tell someone the answer and use fear or appeal to faith (in you or something bigger).

In reality, preaching is […]

19 Dec 2012

Serendipity and Defining the Ideal Customer

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T11:33:44-06:00December 19th, 2012|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Manifast, Marketing, Sales|

Having the discipline to define and focus on your ideal
customer at the exclusion of all distractions is a skill that eludes many
business owners.

We naturally want to say “everyone” can use our product or
service. After all, what if we exclude someone and they want what we have?

Marketing to “everyone” is very expensive and the message usually
becomes so vague it doesn’t really catch anyone’s attention.

You need a story that resonates to a group of people, your
ideal customer. So you need to be clear who that is.

Defining Our Ideal Customer

We started out with the idea Manifast was for any small […]

12 Nov 2012

Do or Die Trying: A Strategy That Needs Help

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-03T11:34:27-06:00November 12th, 2012|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Manifast|

Is that your business strategy? Set a course and go… until you do or die?

That can certainly be exciting… for a while. In some rare cases it can even be essential.

But it is usually not the best path. At least not one to Manifast your dream business!

As Yoda said:

"Do or do not, there is no try."

So in case you had doubt, dying has no value.

Strategy

I define business strategy as something like:

"A forward looking vision (destination) and plan (path) that takes into consideration what you think is going to happen in the future to give you an advantage in […]

8 Nov 2012

“Start with Why”: So Why Manifast?

By Doug Wagner|2017-04-04T15:36:21-06:00November 8th, 2012|Categories: Business Strategy, Doug's Blog, Manifast|

One of the books I am reading right now is “Start with Why” by Simon Sinek.

This is not the first book I’ve read on the importance of knowing your purpose or having a mission.

The book talks about “why” as opposed to “what” and “how”. The businesses that create the most loyalty and avoid being commodities do this right.

“Inspire” rather than “Manipulate”. When people are aligned with your “why” they will pay a premium or suffer inconvenience to stay with you. The rest need to manipulate their customers into buying.

Lots of great stuff here but rather than talk theory… […]