Calm After The Storm
Forever & AlwaysWe often think of the 'calm before the storm', but rarely do we recognize or even witness the 'calm after the storm'. This sunset occurred less than an hour after a severe storm, near Otter Falls, MB, that brought down a hundred trees near a cabin we had rented. The clouds became soft like cotton balls (mammatus clouds) and the sky was at peace.
With the sand sliding between our toes, and walking hand in hand, there was no thoughts of #tweets, #likes or #snapchats.
Have you ever said, “Never again in my life?”
This past year I have seen so many people break their never agains.
My wife Tanya’s NEVER for years was ‘Sushi’! Now, she loves going as often as possible.
I have seen people change and reunite with family they said they would NEVER see again!
Considering that every 7 years every single cell in our body is replaced, essentially creating a brand new person! It might make sense to consider not speaking for someone else.
In other words…
If you will be a completly different person 7 years from now…
‘Never Say Never’!
I grew up knowing and have as well forced my children to believe that “I Can’t” is just another swear word.
My daughter’s have still managed to find ways to challenge the belief, by asking, “Is _______ impossible?” in other words, insert time travel, aliens on earth, peace on earth, or any number of seemingly impossibles!
Challenge to your hearts content, but human beings have a strong history of debunking the ‘We Can Not’s’ or ‘That’s Impossible’!
Anything is possible.
Who are the ‘Thought Leaders’ online?
Online they are the bloggers (including traditional journalists) YouTube video producers, the Twitter Elite, the Squidoo experts, and other online content creators that can create change and shift opinions.
Over the next few years offline thought leaders will be few and far between. Not that they won’t exist, as surely they will, but offline just doesn’t and won’t spread like years gone by!
You might want to get to know a few thought leaders sooner rather than later, or better yet consider becoming one!
Be The Change,
Lee
Are there activities that you need to do every day for you J.O.B. or business that are necessary, but at the same time you find difficult to find the motivation to get done?
I want to give you a mind shift. This mind shift will only work if in some fashion you are motivated by money, and that difficult activity can specifically be linked to revenue.
Here is the mind shift or temporary magic bullet!
Take Your Annual Revenue/Sales/etc.
divided by
The # of times that activity needs to be done per year.
(example: $200,000/ 650 sales meeting= $307.69)
Would knowing that every time you had or booked a meeting meant another $300 in your pocket help motivate you?
What if every time you made a sales call you knew, regardless of the outcome, it was money in the bank.
Regardless of what you need to do every day… the activity doesn’t have to change; only your perception does.
Have you ever had one of those days where every thing just clicked?
Well, after living through one of those amazing days and riding the high it has reminded me of the common cold. Now that may sound silly at first, but when you think about how easy the common cold spreads from sneeze, to door knob to another victim laying in bed with fevered night sweats; the viral nature of excitement seems simple.
When people in my circle are excited and smiling… I am too.
When ideas get shared with excitement… I get excited.
When a stranger shares their excitement with me… it rubs off!
Excitement is very similar to the common cold, at least in how easily it can spread.
Excitement is catchy. Go ahead spread it around 🙂
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzlpTRNIAvc[/youtube]
I started the 30 Second Marketing Podcast (on iTunes) last year and it unfortunately got put on the back burner. Today I am reviving it and plan to Podcast once or twice per month! They will all be short and to the point with my idea of humour thrown in!
Enjoy today’s broadcast on Face To Face marketing, and I look forward to your comments.
[podcast]/podcast/Face-To-Face-30SecondMarketing-LeeRaito.mp3[/podcast]
If you are in sales, marketing, or in any fashion deliver PDF’s to clients and prospects you should be getting very excited. 2009 marks the year where the Adobe Free Reader finally allows everyday internet users to watch videos in PDF documents you send them.
Think of it this way.
If three companies were sending similar PDF proposals to a potential buyer, and all things being created equal the documents where about the same, the company who added a personalized video message, product demonstration or other dynamic video content would STAND OUT in a crowd. Does it guarantee you WIN the business? No, but in the short term until everyone is using VIDEO you will be memorable.
Plus adding video to PDF’s, I have found, is just plain fun.
In the early phase of this technology its is free for readers, but if you are producing a PDF with video then you need Adobe’s Professional version of Acrobat. It’s not cheap, but as an owner of Adobe Professional who has already closed deals using video in PDF I feel it is well worth the investment.
You can get the Free Adobe Reader that handles video here: Get Adobe Reader
To produce PDF’s with video you will need Acrobat Professional 9 or above: Get Adobe Professional
Thought I would do a little self promotion, considering I have cracked the TOP 20 of Canadian Twitter users on www.WeFollow.com. If you are using Twitter , WeFollow is a great way to see where you rank for one of three categories you choose to TAG yourself with.
If you are not using Twitter, well then I only have two words for you… “Why Not?” (Jump on over to www.Twitter.com and see what all the fuss is about!) If you are using Twitter please connect with me and my fellow Canadians.
Here are the TOP 20 Twitter Users tagged #Canada on WeFollow as of August 2009.
#20 leeraito
Canadian entrenpreneur/founder of several startups, a finance, marketing and tech geek blogger. Drop me a tweet and I will help you with almost anything!!
#19 kittie2171
Tech Chick from NS
#18 Homes_Extra
Canada Homes and RealEstate Destination | Resale, New homes and condos, Rental, Realtors, builders, Decoration, Housing, Renovation, Gardening, Moving guide
#17 herbadmother
Bad is the new good. Or rather, it’s the kind of good that involves liquor. Find me at www.herbadmother.com and http://blog.beliefnet.com/theirbadmother
#16 Forian
You really want to know about me? Drop me a line: Michael.Forian@gmail.com or friend me at Facebook.com/Forian and watch me at YouTube.com/MichaelForian
#15 stevenpage
singer
#14 Dr_BobsEmporium
Computer Professional / Technical Coordinator/ Genealogy/ Science/ Technology/ Social Networking/ Canadian Politics/ #winnipeg
#13 KulpreetSingh
Soul. Servant of Guru Granth Sahib. Selfless Service. Spirituality. Human Rights. Almost Vegan. Vancouver. WordPress. Marketing. Love. Truth.
#12 jmapplebeck
Headhunter and Freemason who tightropes Capitalism vs Socialism and strong Socio-economic awareness
#11 kgrandia
Managing Editor of DeSmogBlog.com, co-founder of VoteForEnvironment.ca and New Media Director for the Vancouver PR firm Hoggan and Associates
#10 CTVCanadaAM
Canada’s only national morning show
#9 BalanceForce
B.A., M.Div., Bereavement Counselor, Cape Breton born, Living in Toronto, Unemployment Resource
#8 arjunbasu
Author, editor, traveller, husband, dad, foodie, slightly mad. Creating Twisters, 140-character short stories
#7 TheHour
Canada’s award winning late night talk show, hosted by George Stroumboulopoulos (@strombo)
#6 Guelphite
I have been employed with 20 years experience in the emergency, security and disaster management fields…..Now I teach http://canweb.socialtoo.com
#5 CanadaFans
Oh Canada! We keep you updated on all sports, entertainment, and breaking news in Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, Ottawa and Montreal.
#4 OksanaIrwin
Inspired Entrepreneur & Passionate Environmentalist; Healthy Home Coach
#3 cbcnews
Top stories, features and viewpoints from CBCNews.ca. Comments and replies by associate producer John.
#2 CanadaCool
Travel Writer – In search of what makes Canada Cool. Join me at www.CanadaCool.com
#1 simpleplan
Simple Plan – new self-titled album in stores now
Is the term ‘Added Value’ over used?
Please tell me if you disagree with my experience, but this past week of my life I have seen added value at work! Yes, added value may be cliche and even an over used term, but when it is genuine it is a game changer!!! Too often I hear companies, sales people and professionals try and over deliver or add value in the same way. If I offer you the same ‘added value’ service as everyone else does, then it no longer achieves it’s purpose! Most likely, it makes me come across the exact same as my competitors, and in a competitive world that just doesn’t cut the mustard!
This week I gave away expert Internet Marketing advice to businesses who expected to be sold something. This week was a game changer, and it was all because of ‘added value’!
How do you add value in a way that differentiates you from your competition?
Your answer could be your personal game changer!
In all fairness you literally shouldn’t be reading this. You see I wrote ‘Pulled In A Million Directions’ a few days back and decided to delete it, because I honestly believed it was too much like a Dear Diary brain dump that would bore people to death. Then earlier today it was pointed out to me that there may be other people going through the same thing, and that my thoughts might resonate or benefit more than just a few readers. I’ll let you decide.
Alrighty then, well I’m currently re-typing this 30, 000 feet in the air. On my way to another part of Canada to bust hump for three days on a ‘business road trip’ which I will enjoy, but at the same time feel the constant heart string pull of missing my wife and daughters back home.
Work & Family; that’s only two directions Lee….
Ok, so see if you resonate with any of my million directions below, all of which I am currently experiencing, living, thinking about or actively trying to avoid clogging my brain waves.
OK, so not quite a million but for the sake of brevity I have stopped at eleven. Is it any wonder in today’s fast paced, commercialized, beautified, and instant gratification driven world that we find ourselves pulled in a million different directions. On any given day we may feel emotionally thinned out like ElastiGirl from the Incredibles, or arms wrapped around a mile of TODO’s like Mr. Fantastic from the Fantastic Four.
So what!
Being pulled in millions of different directions is whose fault?
Is it Tim Berners Lee’s fault for playing a part in creating the modern internet that sucks time from people’s brains? Is it my wife’s fault for blessing me with three gorgeous daughters who love and vie for my attention? Is it my Dad’s fault because he wants to spend time with his son? Is it the airlines fault I’m a thousand miles away from my family?
Of course not!
The one common denominator in every direction I feel pulled in is me, myself & I. If I am feeling pulled in a million different directions, and not enjoying the various pull(s), then I am going to have to spend some time seriously re-evaluating the directions that are less of a need, and really a personal want. E.g. I want to write my second book, but I don’t NEED to right now as that’s not how I make a living financially.
The solution is simple and complex at the same time.
Say NO more often to personal wants & outside requests.
Say YES to my own personal and family’s needs.
There is no ‘I’ in pull.