SubscribeWhat Matters Now – by Seth Godin and other thought leaders
by Guy Ralfe, Dec 14, 2009
This post is Guy’s review of Seth Godin’s upcoming ebook What Matters Now. This ebook comprises a page per single word topic such as Strengths;Poker;Harmony;DIY;Change;Confidence;Productivity. Each topic is contributed by different contributor sharing their unique insight and knowledge. This is a must read. Do yourself a favor and download the ebook – but more importantly read it! If you can’t do that then please send the link to someone you care about because they will appreciate it. more…
Author’s Journey #1 – Does Writing a book make sense for you?
by Roger Parker, Dec 15, 2009
Roger C. Parker is a successful author who has written over 30 books. He helps business professionals write brand-building, thought-leadership books. This is the first of 26 posts in which he would take you on an author’s journey towards writing a nonfiction book. He will share some of the strategies and tips he has learned about book publishing and personal branding.
In this post Roger talks about why business professionals like you write books. Making a living out of book royalties is not the answer. You can learn more about why business professionals write books from Mitchell Levy’s 42 Rules for Driving Success with Books and Wellesley Hills Group’s research publication Business Book Publishing Series Report. Irrespective, 96% of authors that published a business book indicated that the book affected their practice positively. Read this article in its entirety to find out about Roger’s own personal writing journey and why he is writing his latest book. more…
BLOGTASTIC! Blogging is highly personal
By Rajesh Setty, Dec 15, 2009
When you share more about yourself in your blogs, your readers will be more engaged. They want to learn about your trials and tribulations, successes and failures and your hopes and dreams, your experiments and learning. So, get comfortable with the mindset that blogging is personal. Blogs typically take a few minutes to create and you rarely look back at them. Take a few minutes to review some of your previous blogs to ensure that they represent you and showcase who you really are. And, next time you post a blog, before you click the publish button, stop and think if you are inserting some of “You” in the post. more…
You Can, but you shouldn’t Can’t
by Guy Ralfe, Dec 16, 2009
You had to read the title a couple of times, right! Once you read the article, I bet it will make perfect sense. If you are a project manager engaged in a client implementation, you can absolutely relate to what Guy talks about in this article. You are in business because your clients believe you can create solutions for them. Along the course of the implementations there may be instances where you are not in a position to satisfy your client’s needs. You can still make the best of the situation by moving powerfully and increase your credibility with your client. Read this article to find out how. more…
BLOGTASTIC! Your attitude will show up on your blog
By Rajesh Setty, Dec 16, 2009
Your attitude shows up in your work and blogging is no exception. But this is more critical in blogging, because you are always on the stage! Your blog is online even when you are not. New readers are constantly coming by and you are continuously creating first impressions. In your blog, you can simulate or pretend to have a different attitude or competence. But just like in real life, it won’t work. Wearing a mask all the time can be costly and risky. Irrespective of whether you blog or not, you need to look at your attitude and reshape it for your own good. more…
How to Qualify Opportunities When Meeting With Your Customers
by Robert Driscoll, Dec 17, 2009
In the two previous posts, Robert explained how to develop customer profiles and create an agenda for the meeting with the customer. This post is about what you do in the meeting. The purpose of the meeting is to identify your customers’ concerns and create offers to take care of them. These concerns are your opportunities. To identify current and future opportunities, you have to ask exploratory questions to get a view into your customers’ background thinking. For instance ask about the organization’s vision, plans to support it, etc. As you hear the responses, and their concerns become clearer, ask them about what impact it will have on the organization and how they will measure it. Basically, as you start having these purposeful conversations, you can start seeing the gaps that exist between where your customers’ organization is and where they want to be. more…
BLOGTASTIC! There are few second chances online
By Rajesh Setty, Dec 17, 2009
When you are offline, what you say has consequences. For instance, when you say something inappropriate to somebody, you can irreparably damage your relationship. When you are blogging, the impact of what you write is several orders of magnitude higher. As soon as you click the publish button, it is picked up via email, RSS feeds, web crawlers, etc and it is available far and wide. So, beware of what you write in your posts. Say whatever you want (online or offline), but be willing to accept the consequences. more…
Selling when you’re not there
by Wayne Turmel, Dec 18, 2009
Just like you and I, our customers research a lot online before they approach you. They are armed with a lot of knowledge. Be aware of this fact when they approach you and make all your offline interactions productive for them. For instance, when conducting a demo, make sure the person demonstrating is not just showing the features and functionality, but is asking probing questions that qualify the prospect. Many companies fail to recognize the value of the company website – which is doing the selling when you are not. Measuring who visits, when and how long they spend, etc (web analytics) on the site can give you valuable insights. more…
BLOGTASTIC! Get (very) comfortable with speed of change
By Rajesh Setty, Dec 18, 2009
Before the advent of the web and blogosphere, it took days, weeks or even months for ideas to become public. But now, ideas become public instantaneously. So, if you are in the blogging game, get used to reading fast and respond quickly. If you goof up, you need apologize fast and if someone expresses appreciation, thank the person fast. Everything has to be fast. In order to operate at high speed, you need to be organized appropriately. The speed at which you operate is directly proportional to the degree of your organization. more…