Category: Discussion Starters
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Celebrate Perpetually
There is an old management saying about catching people doing the right things and celebrating, rather than catching them doing something wrong and correcting them. It is hard work to do this day-in and day-out. Shortly after the new year, I began formally dedicating a portion of my day to writing out an actual list…
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Is your business sexy?
My personal belief: confidence, consistency, something of clear value or benefit to me, and maybe a sense of humor … all without taking one’s self too seriously is #SEXY, #ALLURING, and #ATTRACTIVE. It is what I want! Though they are expressed very differently; I think it is what most people want in terms of product, service, and functionality,…
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Polishing Turds or Audience Selection
I admit it! On more than two occasions in my career, I invested massive amounts of my creative, persuasive, and story-telling energies into a product or company that I knew wasn’t going anywhere. It was torture! What separates successful #innovations isn’t how much spin or #marketing resources are applied. It is doing the challenging work to understand who can…
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Finding Your Marketing Sweet-spot
Marketing initiatives and strategies are as unique and diverse as humanity. There is NEVER a single best-solution for any brand, product, service, or industry. Rather, each marketing and leadership team must determine their own goals, outcomes, and objectives they wish to achieve with their efforts and find a range of nuanced tactics that serve them…
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How Do You Harness Engagement?
How do you build #engagement beyond social and digital platforms? Many consider engagement strictly as a buying signal and assign points or metrics as a form of progress towards a purchase. But there are many times when engagement is consistently very high, yet there is no opportunity to transact.– Industry Incompatibility: maybe respectful peers like…
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Connect. Don’t Persuade
My acceptance into the Sales Training MBA program offered by The School Of Hard Knocks was accepted 3.5 years ago – shortly after the birth of my daughter. I continue to learn so much from this program and am enthusiastic about never graduating! Before enrolling, I had sat through countless seminars teaching the benefits of…
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NO is GOOD for Business
NO is a great answer in sales! We often think about only the buyer having the ability to say no, and it often hurts our egos when they do. There is huge power in saying no to a prospect. I recommend it be done with professionalism, some empathy, and at least a hint of rationale.…
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My 3yr Old Taught Me ALL About Engagement
Numbers can be a good reflection of our progress, but are NOT the actual target! Proof from my 3ry old:She mostly does what we ask/tell her to doShe always behaves in ways that are expected of her (tantrums ARE expected).She wants to be part of the things we do.She wants to contribute with her skills…
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Platinum Rule For Business
Happy, safe, and trusting humans are THE BIGGEST KEY to any business being able to operate. It is the foundation for employment, leadership, buying, and selling. Surely, we can all agree that there is no way a business can make money without these systems in place. Today’s business environment is often demanding that these systems…
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Compound Interest For Marketing
Long ago, I freaked out when I read one of the first quarterly statements regarding the performance of my 401k. I was ALREADY LOOSING MONEY! Thankfully, someone slapped me out of my panic and reminded me that financial investing is all about money growing over time… as in 2, 3, even 4 decades. The same…
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Unique Value Proposition = Never-ending Revenue Stream
#Marketing, #Brand and #Sales channels ARE your unique value proposition – not merely a way to communicate it! It is time to re-design them to reflect their true power of building engagement and future-proofing your business. What exactly do I mean? Engagement is a signal that audiences trust you, your messaging, and/or your brand. Sometimes…
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Understanding BRAND
A #brand is simply the framework for decisions. It should reflect #humanity, #integrity, and #consistency while leaving room for interpretation and application across diverse situations. For businesses this is reflected in the employees we hire and the partnerships we pursue more than the images and words we promote. For individuals it is reflected by the…
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Business Growth in 6 Simple Steps
Business growth is simple. More specifically, it is based on simple steps. This simplicity is not to be confused with being easy. The better we grow as individuals, as contributors, as leaders, and as marketers; the more we can see opportunities to build systems that help those around us and make decisions to benefit us…
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4 Simple Statements
I recognize the #humanity in you.You are valued and valuable. Your ideas, opinions, and experiences are valid and help shape others.I am excited to #collaborate with you. Imagine what we could accomplish if we started our meetings with these 4 sentences! It would be difficult, uncomfortable, and a challenge to make such a commitment on the front end. It…
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Measuring Ideas
Some people talk about ideas in terms of being big or small. The idea itself is not measurable beyond a couple firings of neurons somewhere in our brain. What IS measurable is the impact of the idea – the number of people involved in it, the amount of #change it brings, the #value it creates,…
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Creativity is capital
Each of us has unlimited capacity to increase our value. Each of us has unlimited capacity to create! Our #imagination, interpretations, and #insights grow more and more keen with every experience. They represent our largest, and mostly untapped, opportunity to contribute to the world. #Creativity is a natural state of #humanity, making it infinitely #abundant.…
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Better Questions
Great #interviewers and #entrepreneurs are often known for asking #powerful, simple, concise, #cutting, and BIG questions. While they do make their share of #assumptions from time to time, they are followed with more #questions. Better questions aren’t just about getting better #answers. They prime our #curiosity and #imagination, open our minds to #solutions, help us…
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Movement follows value
There are many conversations growing today around ways #leadership, #management, #marketing, and #sales are changing as #technology and #information become ever-more present in our lives. In many ways, these aspects of business have changed dramatically in the past two decades. But as the headline suggests, not much has truly changed! #Humans are social creatures. We…
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Build culture on purpose
Be #intentional. Sure, many business cultures are built on the fly, by accident, and without much deliberate thought. Sometimes they even manage to produce great #products and #systems. But the best cultures are built over time and under careful directives. They exist to #grow, #inspire others, protect themselves, and accomplish specific tasks. Be #mindful. In…
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Leading with HEART
#Sales and #leadership are practically synonymous. Both are about moving people and aligning beliefs. Leading people starts with #passion. Doing something that lights you up from the inside builds more #authenticity and #trust with people. It naturally connects you with others who are like-minded and like-hearted. Now that you have the #connection, #intention, and #direction;…
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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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We are all unique
15 March 2018 Some cultural #trends might suggest some advantage of looking, #thinking, and #acting like others around us. But even in those groups, we are effortlessly drawn to unique nuances of individuals. We can’t help it! Our brains are hardwired to constantly ignore the mundane and give high priority to out-of-ordinary. #Habits are how…
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Always be pursuing
12 Mar 2018 #Goals, #dreams, #ideas, and #knowledge are great things to pursue because they change us, along with the entire world, with every step. Some pursuits are best done in a casual manner. The infrequent or lighthearted approach allows us to explore new interests, offers comparative insights, and allows us to enjoy the…
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Creating Tomorrow
14 February 2018 One act of creation each day can truly build a lifetime of #opportunity. It is amazingly simple, yet few seem to apply it. Day in and day out. It is #consistency that has infinitely more powerful than speed or strength. It builds #habits and #systems that align #thoughts and #actions. Before too…
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Women in Business
8 March 2018 Ignore the age-old view of women as business statistics – being an important demographic target, consumers with dollars to spend, and #influencers of decisions. On this #InternationalWomensDay; I celebrate and support women’s roles in business and champion their need for equal #opportunity as well as pay! Actually, I champion this cause every…
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Positivity and Gratitude
7 March 2018 #Positivity and #gratitude are choices that, when repeated often enough, become #habit – and ultimately a #lifestyle. This perspective is never about ignoring reality or details regarding a particular situation. It is choosing to accept them, truly #appreciate them, and #learn from them. While a #victim or #negative perspective presents us with…
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Business Is Art
1 March 2018 Art is about #exploring, sharing, #expanding, and connecting. It is a natural gift that is bestowed on us all. And it is one of the things that makes us most #human. #Art is an expression of #emotion from the creator and a trigger of emotion for the #audience. It is never defined…
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abundance of success
#Success, like any other form of energy, is neither created not destroyed – it constantly changes forms. There is more than enough for everyone to have their fill. It is so abundant that we don’t even realize how much of it we even throw around. There is no need to worry about who seems to…
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Thank a dreamer
Be sure to thank a #dreamer today. In spite of being mocked so many times; they continued developing their dream until people saw its value one at a time. Dreamers actively shaped nearly every facet of our lives today – the clothes we wear, cars we drive, technology we adore, music we crave, and everything in…
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simplify and share
Having a simple and articulated #purpose acts like a magnet to not only attract ideal people, but also scenarios where they each can shine. It provides a framework for them to contribute their passions, skills, and ideas.
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Dreams come true
No matter how big it is; #dreams only need directed action applied over time to come true. More action by more people working together with better directions makes dreams come true much faster.
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Surface tension
Merely pleasing others doesn’t win many loyal friends, fans, or customers. This kind of #dedication requires a type of friction that connects with some while leaving others a little roughed up. Your intent should not be to offend; but understand that it will happen
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Are you measuring the right thing?
BIGGER is a comparative measurement of size. MORE is a comparative measurement of quantity. Neither of the two are accurate indications of QUALITY or #SUCCESS. Take time to determine the most worthwhile criteria to measure for your business.
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Thanks to technology; we have thousands
Thanks to technology; we have thousands of ways to show love and #gratitude to friends, family, customers & vendors. What are your favorites
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You have to see and believe your #success
You have to see and believe your #success before anyone else will. How do YOU communicate your vision to others? http://ow.ly/i/7Aajc
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Making quality #connections with others
Making quality #connections with others is about being authentic, creative, & vulnerable; not on needs, compliance, or manipulations.
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What if #Imagination was regarded as mor
What if #Imagination was regarded as more important than our sense of sight, sound, touch, smell, & taste? What would you improve first?
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Clarity of #Purpose provides everyone in
Clarity of #Purpose provides everyone in your business a consistent framework for making decisions. “How does (action) reflect our purpose?”
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Having a clear purpose provides the fram
Having a clear purpose provides the framework for ALL business decisions. Do You have a clear purpose? How do you communicate/support it?
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Your specific words make a big differenc
Your specific words make a big difference on how you see things. What some people call an ‘opportunity’; others might label as ‘hard work’, ‘current deficiency’, or ‘difficult challenge’. How can changing your perspective impact YOUR business?
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Which do you think is a better practice
Which do you think is a better practice for growing business To FOLLOW trends or To START trends? Your comments are welcome
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#Success is never about how many times y
#Success is never about how many times you do the same action; it is about passionately applying what you learn over the times you do it.
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In art & all forms of creativity; the tr
In art & all forms of creativity; the true power is in the process of bringing an idea to life – for this is where many exciting discoveries are made. This especially applies to business growth. What are some discoveries you have made along your journey?
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Great teams are built knowing that each
Great teams are built knowing that each member has, and gets to contribute their own form of genius How do you bring out the best in others?
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EVERYTHING is possible when surrounded b
EVERYTHING is possible when surrounded by support, respect, love, & gratitude! To whom will you give this powerful gift? What would You do?
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Often, the things we cannot see or measu
Often, the things we cannot see or measure serve as a solid foundation for growth and #success. Let’s start a list here: #Integrity #Trust
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Excellence, Integrity, and Value are not
Excellence, Integrity, and Value are not colors of paint; these must shine from within. #leadership
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Dreams & ideas ALWAYS arrive incomplete.
Dreams & ideas ALWAYS arrive incomplete. It is up to us to pull together the physical elements and details to make them exist. #Entrepreneur
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Regardless of where you are, or what dir
Regardless of where you are, or what direction you’re facing; you ARE on your path to success and the tools you need are within arms reach.
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Imagination, beliefs, & expectations acc
Imagination, beliefs, & expectations accomplish more than blood, sweat, & tears. But combining them all is a recipe for AWESOMENESS! How (specifically) will you express such awesomeness?
David R Frick 