Professional farmers don’t begrudge the backyard gardener his tomato harvest. That’s silly. And talented mechanics certainly don’t mind the antics of the Car Talk guys (or their listeners). Sooner or later, if you need a real mechanic, you’ll find one, and if you don’t, well, that’s fine too. A few years ago, typesetting, wedding photography,…Read moreRead more
best presentation skills
True professionals don’t fear amateurs…
The power of zero spend..
Sometimes, boundaries help you make tough decisions. If you build your company with the policy that you’ll never run an ad, it makes it even more important that you build a remarkable product–you’ll never be tempted to compromise and try to make it up with hype. Same thing goes for organizations that refuse to pay…Read moreRead more
Thank you, Zig…
One of our great teacher Zig Ziglar died last week. He was 86. Thanks for teaching me how to sell and why it mattered. Thanks for reminding me how much it mattered to care. Thanks for telling us a fifteen-minute story about Johnny the Shoe Shine Genius, so compelling that I flew to the airport…Read moreRead more
When everyone has access to the same tools…
…then having a tool isn’t much of an advantage. The industrial age, the age of scarcity, depended in part on the advantages that came with owning tools others didn’t own. Time for a new advantage. It might be your network, the connections that trust you. And it might be your expertise. But most of all,…Read moreRead more
World’s Simplest Management Secret….
Forget what you learned in those management books. There’s really only one way to ensure that everyone on your team excels. Management books have it all wrong. They all try to tell you how to manage “people.” It’s impossible to manage “people”; it’s only possible to manage individuals. And because individuals differ from one another,…Read moreRead more
The best way to get unstuck…
Don’t wait for the right answer and the golden path to present themselves. This is precisely why you’re stuck. Starting without seeing the end is difficult, so we often wait until we see the end, scanning relentlessly for the right way, the best way and the perfect way. The way to get unstuck is to…Read moreRead more
The curious imperative…
Now that information is ubiquitous, the obligation changes. It’s no longer okay to not know. If you don’t know what a word means, look it up. If you’re meeting with someone, check them out in advance. If it sounds too good to be true, Google it before you forward it. If you don’t know what…Read moreRead more
Useful and believable promises…
That’s another way to think about marketing. We only sign up/pay attention to/pay for offers from marketers when: What’s promised is something we think is worth more than it costs and We believe you’re the best person to keep that promise. This applies to resumes, meetings and even the kid raking your lawn. If your…Read moreRead more
Do the (extra) work…
Do the extra work not because you have to but because it’s a privilege. Get in early. Sweep the floor without being asked. Especially when it’s not your turn. Not because you want credit or reward. Because you can. The industrialist wants to suck everything out of you. Doing extra work as a cog in…Read moreRead more