Friday, August 29, 2008

Ism of the Day

Normally Friday is the day we deliver the Keiserism of the Day. However, last night Jeffrey Fox of Fox & Company (guest speaker a The Entrepreneur Circle's monthly meeting) delivered such a wonderful talk to our group that we thought we would use a Foxism instead.

The SW Rule Some Will, Some Won’t, So What.(Jeffrey Fox)

Other interesting Key Points from last night's talk:

  1. If I were the customer why would I buy from me?
  2. Spend 60% of your time getting and keeping clients, 30% doing the work, and 10% on administrative tasks
  3. Do something everyday to get and keep a customer
  4. Write a factual statement to use in advertising and brochures
  5. When sitting down with a prospect, tell them "We won't even take you as a customer unless you can see a 10X return on your investment"
  6. Ask potential customers "Will you just judge the facts and decide for yourself"
  7. When talking to potential customers:

  • Talk Benefit
    Quantify it
    Dollarize it
    Use Facts: "Based on our experience our clients experience ...
    Find out "How much money will we get the customer?"

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Interesting Fact of the Week

Apples are more efficient at waking you up in the morning than caffeine.

WikiAnswers: Do Apples Wake you Up?

Monday, August 25, 2008

Magic pills, wands, and pixie dust

A few weeks ago I posted an entry

"Magic pills, magic wands, and gurus are best kept in the Fairytale books. The tools you need to grow your business are Leadership, knowledge, and self-discipline."

I found this video to illustrate my point. Enjoy

Mad TV Eat Less, Move More Video


Quote of the Week


In spite of your fear, do what you have to do.
Chin-Ning Chu

Related Article: Put Fear in Perspective

Friday, August 22, 2008

Keiserism of the Day

Planning a business is very much like planning a road trip without a map resources and working tools it makes it difficult to reach your destination.

Example:

Trip to Boston (Hartford CT - Boston MA)

Person 1 we will call her Doris: Doris Decides she is going to Boston, immediately jumps in the car and starts to drive. Twenty minutes into the drive she runs out of fuel and has to wait for AAA to help her. After that ordeal she realizes she is hungry and has to stop for food. Two hours into the trip Doris realizes that she doesn't know where Boston is but knows that she will get there eventually. Four hours later realizes she is in New Jersey, asks for directions, stops for fuel, gets another bite to eat and arrives in Boston many hours later.

Person 2 we will call him Alfred: Alfred decides he wants to go to Boston. He sits down calls his sister to let her know he is coming. Before his journey he prepares a list of things to do.

  1. Purchase a GPS
  2. Visit Jane the mechanic to check his car
  3. Get Gas
  4. Go to ATM
  5. Get food for trip
  6. Buy sister a gift
  7. Clean out refrigerator
  8. Unplug appliances
  9. Wash clothes
  10. Shut off Water
  11. Notify the Mailman

By the time he has finished his to do list, Alfred realizes he is too tired calls his sister to let her know he will be there tomorrow. He is so exausted from the day before he oversleeps, and by the time he is ready it is once again too late to travel. Three days later he arrives at his sisters place only to turn around and go home, he used up his vacation days and must return to work in the morning.

Person 3 we will call her Mildred: Mildred wakes up decides she wants to go to Boston. She makes hotel arrangements with Expedia, packs a bag, and gets directions. She hops in the car, makes 2 stops the gas station, and the grocery store to get some food for her trip. Two hours later she is at her hotel talking with the consierge about things to do and where to get dinner.

Mildred will have the most productive trip of the three. She made a decision, put a plan together, took action, and then modified the plan when she arrived. Planning too much or lacking a plan in any situation can be detrimental to the success of your journey.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Interesting Fact of the Week

The average business user spends 2.6 hours per day reading and managing their emails.

Related Article

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Monday, August 18, 2008

Quote of the week

"Do we need more time? Or do we need to be more disciplined with the time we have?"
Kerry Johnson

Friday, August 15, 2008

Keiserism of the Week




Magic pills, magic wands, and gurus are best kept in the Fairytale books. The tools you need to grow your business are Leadership, knowledge, and self-discipline.

By 2010 $13.9 Billion per year will be spent on self help techniques. Although I am a firm believer in self development, it is frightning to see how many of us invest large amounts of time and money on finding the secret to their success and happiness. For some it can become an addiction, going from one self help book, seminar, retreat to the next. Your happiness and satisfaction lie in your accomplishments. Think of all the happiness and satisfaction you would have achieved if your were as committed to having it as opposed to achieving it.
I recently watched the movie "Into The Wild" Christopher McCandless went on a quest to seek the truth, he thought the magic pill would be found in the Alaskan wilderness. He paid the ultimate price to find something he already had.



Thursday, August 14, 2008

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Question of the Week

Would your company survive if you lost your best customer tomorrow?

Monday, August 11, 2008

Quote of the Week

Today’s quote is from John Cummuta

"...if no changes were necessary for you to achieve financial independence, you'd already be there."

Related Article

Saturday, August 9, 2008

Just Do It

Yesterday I was engaged in a wonderful discussion. The common theme was "Just Do It". We allow ourselves to wait for the right time to do all kinds of things, but usually the time isn't right because we choose to procrastinate instead of act. There is comfort in procrastination, we make ourselves feel good with the idea that we plan to do something. We create the story that it isn't the right time or there isn't enough time, or whatever else we want to believe to be true. The truth is NOW is always the best time to do something.

I most commonly hear this when the topic of having a business plan comes up. For some reason there is a lot of resisitance to writing and following a business plan. Robin Bienemann (Chariman's View) recently spoke to our members on this topic. Robin explained the fundamentals of putting a plan together. Below are some exerpts of her talk.


What is a Plan?

  1. Executive Summary (Mission of the company)
  2. Company Description (What do you do)
  3. Product or Service(describe your product)
  4. Market Analysis (who are your customers)
  5. Strategy and Implementation (how will you reach them)
  6. Management Team (who will help you accomplish this)
  7. Financial Analysis (How will your company support itself, and it's team

Who's the audience and what's it look like?


1. The Audience

  • You
  • Stakeholders - spouse, family, etc
  • Investors - new or existing
  • Suitors (potential buyers)

2. How Long? - depends on the audience

  • Executive summary: 1 Page or less
  • Investor summary: 4 - 5 pages
  • Business Plan for a serious investor: 5- 10+ pages
  • Internal/personal plan: 2 - 3 Pages Robin Bienemann(Chariman's View)

Unfortunately, it's the entrepreneur that doesn't have a business plan is the one who has the simplest one to write. We feel overwhelmed by the project, think we don't need one because we have all the information in our heads, business is growing to fast to keep up with it, ETC... You fill in the blank.

Whether it is writing and implementing a business plan, or something else on your To-Do list the best time to take action is NOW.

Friday, August 8, 2008

Keiserism of the day

The best time to implement your marketing plan is 5 years ago. The second best time is NOW!

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Fact of the day

For those of you who are still wondering about the relevance of Web 2.0.

Google trends show that Blogs have Surpassed Newspapers & Magazines in Popularity.

View Report

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Question of the week

What was the last new thing you learned?

Related Article: Importance of Learning

Monday, August 4, 2008

Quote of the Week

"There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, learning from failure."
— Colin Powell: U.S. Army General and statesman.

Related Article: Success by Joe Leksich

Friday, August 1, 2008

Keiserism of the day

Experiencing life as a child keeps us present to the moment and helps us see all of the opportunities.

Have you ever taken a child for a walk? Did you ever notice how long it takes?

As a young mother taking walks served 2 purposes, or so I thought. It would give me an opportunity to get some exercise, and give the children an activity. I soon found that it was best to keep it simple and serve one or the other. I could put them in the stroller and walk the distance and speed I wanted to, or they could walk with me, and spend an hour walking down the street. The latter usually won out.

A child sees everything, every bug, blade of grass, and crack in the sidewalk ETC.... They see it and fully experience every moment. They don't have any deadlines, bills, commitments, or appointments. As we go through life we collect these extra things, and for some the baggage is so heavy that we become incapable of experiencing anything.

I don't live in fantasy land and don't think that we as adults could possibly recreate the true feelings of childhood, but am foolish enough to think that we could all benefit from Keeping a little Peter Pan in our lives.

I recently found out that one of my best friends was diagnosed with stage 3 ovarian cancer, on the same day her daughter was born. At the hospital her father was telling me (with pure joy in his face) how much he was enjoying his grandchildren. He went on to say that he was so busy (providing for his family) as a young man that he unfortunately didn't have the same experiences with his own children.

How many blades of grass, bugs, and cracks in the sidewalk do we miss out on everyday, because we are so bogged down with the extra baggage of life? How many opportunities and experiences do we miss out on due to our pre-conceived notions, or responsibilities? What are these missed opportunities costing you in your personal and professional life?

This is my long winded way of saying life is too short to take it so seriously. Before you know it, you are looking back saying "where did it all go?". If you are going to take the time to do or go somewhere, be wherever you are.