As I’m slowly wrapping up my Bachelors, I’m wondering if I should go on to earn my MBA as well. I’m an accounting major and I believe it would be beneficial to have an MBA going forward with my career. I’ve heard varying opinions about the value of a masters degree and I believe that it would be valuable for me to continue learning. I truly enjoy learning and increasing my knowledge, is an MBA the right way to do that? I’m not really sure. As a small business owner, how do you stay fresh and make sure you are always learning? I’m excited to find out and learn more about other ways to stay on top of learning…fill me in.
Is your heart in the game? – March 17th, 2008
Today I read a blog post from Seth about having a resume, or the lack thereof. He talks about having about the point of having a resume if there is nothing remarkable on it and that most people who are remarkable do not even have a resume. I certainly agree with him. His discussion really made me think about whether you have your heart in the game and always working to create something remarkable. Sometimes when I’m driving along I think about how unremarkable my day was or the lack of remarkable customer service or talent that I experienced throughout my day. It really motivates me to make a difference and create something that is truly purple. My spring trip took me to a small town in Wyoming (ok, ok they’re all small!) and I met with an eye doctor that is working on making a remarkable difference in his practice. His past experience as a sales person and marketer has helped him to accelerate the practice and gain new clients in a flash. It isn’t so much about his sales and marketing skills as much it is about his presence and experience he creates for his patients. The word of mouth created by each patient is priceless. Each patient leaves having a great experience and feels great rapport for the doctor, which is truly uncommon in his field. He has committed himself to the practice and his heart is in the game. He wants to make a difference and become a purple cow, or in Wyoming a purple buffalo. What should you be doing to build your personal resume and brand to become remarkable?
Hiring a Consultant – March 3rd, 2008
When a company goes to hire a consultant, I think that there is one major factor that is overlooked prior to engaging outside help. Similarly to my post about hiring within, I believe that organizations should ask employees for their contribution prior to adding the expense of bringing in an outside consultant. From my personal experience and extensive reading, it seems that the solutions to many problems or processes can be developed by simply giving your employees the freedom or autonomy to create and implement a solution. Recently, I’ve been part of an organization that is bringing in outside help to fix a process that the internal team has the talent solve if given the respect, resources and control to complete the change in process.
Aside from giving a group or department the power to create or ideate solutions, it is imperative to give the power and respect to implement their ideas and solutions. Most often you can find the solution to your problems by looking internally (inside yourself or within your organization). Once your employees have the ability to think freely and develop solutions, step back and watch your company grow at pace that it would not have otherwise.
Forget the Typical Dogma and Become Remarkable – February 21st, 2008
I recently stumbled across this quote by Steve Jobs. The reason I’m posting about it is because I enjoy hearing people discuss the thought of breaking away from what is safe and commonplace. The world is powered by boring people and changed and pushed forward by people that think differently. These people are not afraid to be remarkable or break the status quo . My goal is continue to drive in a different direction (not literally) and create change in the business world. Through my college career I have found that most teachers are boring and afraid of change. College seems to be more about learning how to do things the safe way so you can get a job with a boring Fortune 500 company. That isn’t what life should be about, I should be learning how to make a difference and how to share my ideas with fellow businesspeople. I’m sure you have read this before but here it is anyway: If you quit your job today and could follow your dream, where would it take you and what work would you do? Leave me a comment about it, I’m excited to see your thoughts.
Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.
-Steve Jobs
Additional quotes can be found here: http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Steve_Jobs
Studying at Starbucks – February 4th, 2008
Every time I go into my local Starbucks, I’m never let down. The coffee is always consistent and there is always a student or businessperson diligently studying in a corner. It has always amazed me that people are able to focus and get all their work done in that type of environment. I am the type of person that needs to be able bounce from task to task, to complete many. At Starbucks, I get to busy watching people and trying to figure out why they are meeting other people, what projects they are working on, and any of a number of other things.
So this leads me to ask you, where is your favorite place to get things done?
I hated voice mail messages… – January 25th, 2008
Until now. I recently migrated completely away from listening to voice mail. I have always been disenchanted with voice mail and have not been the best at following up with it. Switching to Simulscribe made a drastic difference in my efficiency and improved my ability to follow up and organize my callbacks. Typically, I do not endorse services on my blog unless they are truly remarkable and make an impact on my daily life. That’s exactly what happened with these services.
Simulscribe is a voice mail transcription service that I forward my callers to (unbenounced to them) and they leave a normal message. The message is then transcribed and emailed to me. This provides with the ability to view a voice message at any time on my BlackBerry and come back to it later to read it, or I can even read it during a meeting.
SimulSays is their visual voice mail service. It provides a transcription of your voice mail and the audio file if you need to play it as well. You can listen to your messages in any order and come back to them at anytime (think IPhone style, but they were first). You can also easily forward the message to someone else in the form of an email.
I apologize for the commercial; however, I figure if it could make such a big difference in my life it has to be able to help others. Try out their 30-day, no pressure trial. That’s how they got me hooked! If you try it out, please leave your feedback, I’d love to hear what you think about it.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day – January 21st, 2008
A great quote from one of our greatest leaders…
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
- Martin Luther King Jr., (1929 – 1968 ), American civil rights leader.
Posted in Inspiration, Quotes
Take the time to start ideating – January 9th, 2008
IBM has recently released a commercial that shows a group of employees lying a conference room ideating. In my searches, I have noticed that many bloggers that have posted about ideating seem to have shed a negative light on this idea. I’m on the other side of the fence, I think that having an environment that supports ideating and incubation of ideas will lead to things you may have never done. The beginning of the year is always a great time to think about the strategies your company uses to implement and test new ideas. If you are not constantly coming with new ideas, how are you remaining competitive? I know in the high-tech space, a company without creativity does not exist or at least not for long.
Another important idea: If you’re in a leadership role and your employees come to you with ideas, make sure you do not “fire hose” their ideas. Not all of their ideas will be the “one,” but killing their enthusiasm on one idea will enable them to stop being creative and working to improve the company. Take time to listen and work to find even the smallest amount of value in their idea and point them in the right direction for future ideas. (Fire Hose Hat tip: Julia Marrocco)
UPDATE: I finally found the actually video on YouTube. Watch it below.
Do you ask too much from your customers? – January 2nd, 2008
Do you ask too much from your customers?
While at the dentist the other day, I got to thinking about how much we should really ask our customers to do in order to do business with our companies. Although, I understand the importance of brushing, flossing, using some other random gum cleaner, and everything else they recommend there must be a limit to what we can expect from our clients.
When you engage your customers in the sales process, how much do you ask of them? Who is doing most of the work, you or your customer? As a salesperson, you need to consider some important things while in the process of courting a prospective client:
- What value or importance does this portion of the process play in gaining this prospects business?
- How can I simplify the process without jeopardizing the integrity of the process necessary to complete the proposal?
- As a marketer or salesperson how does this make the client/prospect feel about your company and the experience?
- Make sure you are always authentically providing a solution that is in the best interest of your client.
I’m sure there are hundreds of other important things to consider, help me list those with your comments. Ultimately, I want you to think about your customer experience. Take the time map out how a typical customer interaction occurs and if it feels fluid and natural to you if you were to go through it. Another great option is to survey your customers and get their feedback.
The takeaway: Always listen to how your customers and prospects react throughout the sales process and make adjustments to your process accordingly. The biggest mistake a salesperson or SMB owner can make is to avoid customer feedback and not adapt to customer reactions.
Do you ring in your customer’s mind? Or even exist? – December 26th, 2007
During a recent run through my Google Reader feeds, I read a very interesting post by the folks over at Bruce Clay. It really makes you think about some of the sites or businesses that you run across that you have never heard of. I just met one of my friend’s downtown for lunch and noticed a whole slew of businesses on Main Street that neither of us knew were even there. We had a great pizza and a good experience at the restaurant we ate yet, however, we wondered why we had never heard of it prior to that day we drove by and decided to swing in for a slice.
Take a step back and ask yourself: Do your customer’s even know that you show up every day to pour your life into your business? If not, how can you change that and prove that your business if going to be a hit? Maybe it is time to quit running that TV campaign and try a grassroots type of campaign. Or it could be time to quit all together and get out of the Dip.
