Category: Business Strategies
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Burnout is no badge of honor.
If you squint your eyes just enough, tilt your head at the right angle, and hold your breath for a count of 10, you might see burnout as the result of lazy, incomplete, ineffective, and bad business design. We hear a lot of ‘success stories’ about founders and CEOs working 12-16 hours each day, providing…
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Give More TIME
FACT: We all have the same 24 hours each day. What we get largely comes down to how we allocate those moments. Let me be clear, “Give More Time” is NOT about giving all of your time away. It is about establishing ways to be selective about where you invest your time so that you…
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Ideal Clients Are Not Always Ideal
It is easy to describe ideal clients/customers as being … well… perfect. As in:– Easy to identify and find digitally– Already know they have a problem or challenge– Currently looking for solution options– Funding approved– Ready to buy While some of these attributes ARE available, they alone are not likely to sustain your growth goals,…
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Story is EVERYTHING
You’ve likely heard it many times before, story is important to your brand. What is most fascinating is that it is less about the story you tell, and more about the story people say over and over within their own mind. You get to influence their story of you through the following: – content –…
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Growing with Values
Formalizing and adopting clear values in your organization or team does have a immediate and positive impact on morale, trust, and growth. When organizations approach this as a 1-time investment, they can expect a 1-time bump. If shown graphically, it would likely be a sharp spike followed by sharp decline. The decline may be more,…
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Dreams Require Processes
Ideal outcomes are like whimsical dreams without a process to bring them into reality. These 6 Key areas help channel efforts and energy into building systems that create ideal outcomes. They are presented in a circular design to suggest that it doesn’t matter where you begin. There is no particular order to follow. Start where…
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Strategy and Execution
Execution is a valuable and important skill to have in business. It shows up as our history. We can easily look back at the sum of the decisions we make and assess a judgement – Did we execute well? But execution is only half (at most) of the story! Strategy and purpose are what drive our decision-making and will…
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Uncertainty is the result of unclear VALUES.
Decisions are made nearly sub-consciously and are absolutely driven by emotions. Even the big decisions that are supported by mountains of data and have sweeping impact on thousands of people. Having clear values – whatever they might be – helps align information and resources to ease the decision-making process. They also help bring consistency to decisions made…
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What is Leadership in Marketing & Sales?
-It is building authentic connections with customers, clients, and users; as well as teammates, other departments, and internal competitors. – It is helping those in your sphere grow, benefit, find joy, minimize pain. – It is sharing knowledge and skills while constantly learning from others and trying new things. – It is about facilitating communication and trust. (notice that it is NOT…
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The Thin Line Separating Crazy from Genius
The distance between “Crazy” and “Genius” is measured in tenths of millimeters and often comes down to 3 categories – #Practicality, #Audience, and #Messaging. Here are some questions to help bring clarity to each of these categories. The more you invest in them, the more you will develop unlimited value, markets, and revenues. PRACTICALITY:How does it benefit, bring…
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Innovation and Product Life Cycle
Innovations are often mis-understood as being instant hits that immediately resonate with mass audiences and ‘virtually sell themselves’ based on their merits, coolness, or impact alone. This is NEVER the case! More accurately, all innovations follow the exact same sequence of growth as every other product. No brand, person, or idea can escape it. Following…
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Only Execute Fully-Funded Projects
A mentor talked with me about only executing fully-funded projects early in my career. I feel strong and confident every time I use this tip to make a decision about where to invest my energies. I have been burned every time I go against this methodology. As have countless others. One trick I have learned…
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Importance of Innovation
#Innovation is the ONLY way to change your current situation, direction or hope to get new results. It can seem scary when you don’t have ample resources of time, money, friends, or whatever. It might not “work”. Meaning it might not bring the results you intend. But trying something new will always bring new results and #feedback.…
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Who do you serve?
#Business exists to serve people. And to the extent people are served, business grows. Get to know your people – as individuals.People often fall into categories of shareholders, owners, employees, vendors, buyers, users, subscribers, followers, and friends – each with different needs. None of them is more important than any other. Find ways to help them…
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Embrace change
22 March 2018 The only universal law is that EVERYTHING is in a constant state of #change. There is no need to #fear the constant or inevitable; especially when a different approach can reveal countless #opportunities to grow and #experience unparalleled #joy. Those who excel seem to open their arms and embrace the phenomenon.…
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The Power Of Connectivity
It’s one thing to be connected to the Internet. This connection enriches our experiences working, playing, shopping, sharing, and communicating. It’s another thing to be connected to another human being. This connection enriches our entire lives and brings an entirely new meaning to the concept of sharing. Both of these connections are pretty insignificant when…
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Blazing New Trails
“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” People are the key to a 21st Century business. They are not a mere resource that needs to be managed. They are the most valuable asset to an organization and the driving force behind growing businesses. The job of…
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A Foundation for 21st Century Business
Whether we are ready to admit it or not; the way we do business today is different than it was 10, 5, even just 3 years ago. Buyers either seem to care about different things or care about things in a different degree. There are more competitors offering highly similar products and services. Consumers have…
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The Power Of Systems In Marketing
Contrary to beliefs throughout the industrial age; marketing and sales are not interchangeable words. Independently, they seem to be infinitely complex and divergent, but when blended together properly they blend create powerful synergies. Described separately and in overly-simplified terms; ‘Sales’ is about creating and maintaining a relationship that results in a transaction. ‘Marketing’ is about…
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Leadership in the 21st Century
The summer I turned 13; I attended my first formal leadership training workshop. I was hooked! I have served hundreds of leadership positions in the 25 years since that weekend – formal, informal, elected, appointed, volunteered, etc. Some were for pay while others were just necessary. Some were as brief as 10 minutes; while others…
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Profit is not an indication of Growth
Profits are great! And quite easy to figure out. They are simply the monetary surplus left to a producer after deducting all expenses (wages, materials, rent, etc.) from the total income or revenues. This can be calculated per transaction about as easy as it can be for a given time frame (month, quarter, year). While…
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6 Benefits of Transparency
Transparency, authenticity, integrity and the like are not just overly-idealistic buzzwords for today’s business world; they provide long-lasting AND immediate benefits to those who invest time and energy to make it a prominent aspect of their business operations. Consider the image above: Philip Johnson’s Glass House in New Canaan, CT. Construction was completed in 1949…
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Modern Sales Is About Facilitating The Purchase
The most important thing to remember about sales is that it is both a process, with a definite start and a finish, and an art form with endless opportunities for expression. Thanks to the popularity of the Internet; the flow and availability of information dramatically changed the way people buy (impacting both B2B and consumer…
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Technology and Connection Drives Entrepreneurs
Just the other day while getting my hair cut; my barber told me about a new hire he is excited about making in 12 months. A longstanding client of his just quit her job and took HIM to a coffee conversation about the next chapter of her career. She was interested in going to school…
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Building Your Business Reputation
Ask anyone with a good reputation how they got it and you’ll likely get an answer similar to; “Doing the right thing. Even when nobody is looking, when it is not fun, or when it is difficult.” It is no surprise really, the extraordinary actors, musicians, athletes, and business professionals talk openly about how much…
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Strategies For Growing Your Business
When asked; most people claim that growing their business requires either New Customers or New Products. While these are indeed viable strategies; they are perhaps the most expensive. They might look at the above image and see themselves (or the company) as the character with megaphone and the others as customers. CHALLENGES WITH NEW CUSTOMERS…
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How Do You Accept Ideas?
Raw ideas have little value unto themselves. They need to be expanded, tweaked, massaged, and refined. Painters and sculptors often display a collection or series of pieces that are variations of a single theme or idea. Over a period of time, their art evolves and we can enjoy the fruits of their labor. Authors and…
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Embracing Non-Sense
Businesses are too dependent on our 5 physical senses (which are inherently flawed). To grow and succeed; businesses need to build a culture that embraces nonsense! What do I mean by our senses being inherently flawed? Our senses of taste, touch, sight, smell, and sound are all constantly ‘on’ – sensing things and relaying that…
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Powerful Communications: Grammar & Timing
Last week we discussed the power individual words have on your communications and how a simple exercise can help focus your communications. But great communication is not only a matter of what words you say; it is impacted by the manner in which the words are composed, as well as the how they are delivered. In this…
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Purpose Simplifies Critical Decisions
Decisions are powerful tools of transformation. Before a decision is made; everything is possible, yet nothing is done – a blank canvas that overwhelms and terrifies many people. The moment a decision is made ideas begin to take both shape and form (even if only to apply, or not-to apply gesso). Though they might seem…
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The Art of Business
Art changes the world as much as it changes the artist. It goes beyond the painting, sculpture, or poetry that are produced and connects us to our emotions. Then it brings us to a resonant frequency. The work we do every day is no different. The products we make, reports we file, and meetings we…
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Marketing In The Wild
Looking at animals’ physical characteristics; it is often easy to see how they evolved to thrive in different environments among fierce competition. A cheetah; with its long, flexible spine, narrow (yet deep) chest, and a slender head indicates it is built for speed and attacking nimble prey. While lions; with significantly more muscle mass, broader…
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It’s All About The Experience
Regular readers might already know this; but I enjoy cooking. I also enjoy exploring a variety of foods thanks to a thriving restaurant scene here in Louisville, KY. Some time ago, I was at a particular restaurant with a date. Upon hearing the specials from our server, I chose the sea bass while my date…
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Satisfaction vs Loyalty
At one time; satisfied customers must have been a meaningful statistic. Why else would we make such a big deal about such surveys? Today however, a satisfaction is more synonymous with a lack of disappointment. There is a big difference between not disappointing and actually satisfying – an even bigger difference stepping up to building…
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Music Theories In Business
Even without coherent words; music is a powerful communication tool. Composers throughout the ages have expressed and communicated complex emotions through this invisible, yet tactile medium. Throughout my entire life; I have been exposed to music. My formal education began when I was young and I have been playing music consistently for nearly 30 years.…
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A Good WHY Leads To The Best HOWs
Just over two years ago I decided I was going to enjoy living a healthier lifestyle. I specifically remember it NOT being a difficult decision; and it was not about making abrupt radical changes. However, it is important that the decision was made and WHY it was made. I wanted to improve my physical health,…
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A Difficult Decision
Creativity is inspiring. It encourages people to think, present ideas with the hopes of moving the business forward; employees are more engaged; customers can easily tell the difference and are likely to talk positively with their friends. But creativity, by its nature, is messy, emotional, difficult to manage, and nearly impossible to predict – it…
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Change The World With Vision
Visionaries change the world. They always have, and always will. There is something special about them; the way they think, act, talk, and enroll others. The ones who win us over, only do so through sheer determination (not determination to prove being right or generate great wealth or fame; but a determination to contribute to…
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A Carpenter’s Perspective on Building Business
I have always been handy with tools. Combine that with a strong sense of curiosity to understand that I easily adopted a DIY mindset early on in life. It began by taking things apart after they had ceased ‘working properly’ to study the innards and how they were assembled. As my knowledge and skills increased;…
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Building Innovation
We know that lightning strikes the earth about 100 times each second. We even know that nearly 70% of lightning occurs over land in the tropics where the atmospheric convection is greatest. But we still don’t know where or when it will happen. We don’t know what the results of each strike will be. Perhaps…
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What Is The Structure of Your Business?
Arches distribute weight loads over a span – providing windows, doorways, tunnels, and all sorts of internal volume. They are one of the oldest and most widely recognized aspects of architecture and are defined as a curved masonry construction for spanning an opening – consisting of a number of wedge like stones, bricks, or the…
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Grow Your Business Through Networking, Not Karaoke
Networking events are not for making sales pitches and closing deals. They are for meeting and connecting with other people. Sometimes you meet some really great prospects, but as most networking events are put on by an industry organization; you meet a lot of your competition – or at least people who already believe,…
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Marginal Impact – How A Change In Operations Becomes Great Marketing
The dictionary refers to marketing as the total of activities involved in the transfer of goods from the producer to seller to consumer or buyer, including advertising, shipping, storing and selling. Marketing is not something that is done TO a product; it should be part of every aspect in business. Years ago, I was working…
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Catapulting Your Business
Some months ago, my best friend built a trebuchet to offer his sons a physical (and fun) demonstration of various engineering principles. We spent a sunny autumn afternoon launching golf balls and tweaking the system to maximize its performance. Recalling the event, it also demonstrated several business lessons. Build A System A system is more…
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Awesomeness
Most see awesomeness in its finished form – a 5 layer decadent chocolate cake with molten core and a hand-made icing – but they don’t recognize its simple, almost everyday, commodity ingredients of flour, sugar, eggs, cocoa, etc. The magic of awesome rarely comes from the ingredients. Instead, it comes from the human elements of…
David R Frick 