“Leave It On The Court”

We don’t know what the economy is going to do, we don’t know if our thorough plans are going to work … so what do we bet on???

Leave it on the Court …

It is a famous sentiment from John Wooden (former head Basketball Coach for UCLA and one of the best coaches of all time).

It means that when you go out on the floor, play at 100%. Don’t hold any part of your performance back for use later or at another time. Just put your all into it and the game will take care of itself.

Amazingly, if you put your absolute all into your day, it is always satisfying and always fulfilling. A string of those days produces desired results of well-formed goals. It is that hard and that simple.

To put your “all” into the job means to bring your full focus, your best thinking, your healthy self, your aware listener and your passionate performer into the role you have at work. Any job qualifies: you toss a burger, push keys on the keyboard, talk to people all day, balance numbers, make decisions, you represent clients … Whatever you do, this works.

Results are just feedback for the effectiveness of your efforts. Results do not define you, nor do they describe you. They simply report the effectiveness of your work. The results help you know what to continue doing or what to look at changing. No more, no less.

Celebrate success, learn from mistakes. Be curious about your processes versus defensive about your performance. Change supports opportunity and vice versa.

Have fun, make money, make a difference, enjoy the people you do it with.

If you aren’t excited about what you are doing, why should your customers be?

If you aren’t excited about what you are doing, why should your customers be?

The need for revenue, the pressure of managing cash flow, the heavy flow of unexpected changes takes its toll on the spirit of any business.

If you aren’t excited about the business you are in, rediscover it or get out because you are wasting time.

People can tell when you are engaged in what you do. Being fully engaged and aware of how you contribute to your customers in meaningful ways will be the difference in whether or not your business just survives or thrives.

Our mantra: Have Fun, Make Money, Make a Difference and Enjoy the People You Do Those Things with.

Fun has to do with the enjoyment you get from doing something you love, because it feels effortless compared to something you don’t love. Make Money is obvious, but know how much you want to make and why you add sufficient value to warrant that money. Make A Difference is about making a contribution from your customers point of view versus just your own. Enjoy the People is about appreciating, respecting as well as being appreciated and respected.

If any one of those 4 elements is missing, we end or outsource the relationship. Life is too long to live in misery and it is too short to wasted time being less than true to yourself.

When no woman or child receives abuse, humanity has a chance at Global Peace..

Everyone I have talked with has agreed that Abuse of Women and Children should not exist.  AND we know it does!  It is complex, it varies in different cultures (including the US) and it is worth solving – we just don’t know exactly where to begin.

An Amazing Woman – Dr. Reeta Thukral, is driving a quest to use Education and Healthcare to help Abused Women and Children to break the cycle of violence.

Her premise is that only through Education do we evolve as a species.  There are several examples of Human Evolution that are obvious following the introduction of ever evolving education throughout the last 3,000 years.

For 6 years, she has personally funded a not-for-profit 501 (c) (3) foundation in efforts to bring forth help both locally and globally.  She has reached a point where the footprint of these efforts needs to expand. The good Doctor is very clear about what she wants to accomplish. She is a Nephrologist (Kidney specialties)  and has an amazing track record.

She is focused, tireless and has an energy level that only comes from clarity and purpose.  She is a World Thinker without getting caught up in her own ego.

We are helping her launch her first fund raiser event in Las Vegas on Saturday December 3, 2011 at Treasure Island Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.

This is an effort worth supporting and what I would like from you as readers are any ideas, suggestions or thoughts that can contribute to her having a successful event (knowing that it is a very, very short time until it occurs).

We are talking to some folks in the Entertainment Industry to see who might be willing to lend their name and presence in support.

We are busily talking to a variety of businesses to package things that would be good in both a Silent Auction and Active Bidding Auction.

We are looking for “BIG” ideas that could make this event a grand slam. She wants to raise about $160k to advance the next year (and pay for the dinner and expenses for operating).

I am grateful for anything you want to post our way, and if you would like to contribute to this, please email me and I will give you the direct contact info for her foundation. (She is having the finishing touches applied to an updated website.)   bobsmith@mysuccess.com

We admire what she is doing and believe that if World Peace has any chance of occurring, it will be a byproduct of efforts like this.

Las Vegas offers fun that is incomparable and this is an event worth doing.

Legacy? Hell, I just want to survive this economy.

I hear this from many “seasoned” people right now. For too many people there is trouble galore.

There is NO room here for griping, guilt, shame, regret, losses, failures, fear, anxiety or any other negative yokes.

So the question becomes:  What qualities or traits can you count on (inside you) to make things happen and get past big problems you face?

My friend Dave, he is always approachable and willing to listen. You can bring him any kind of problem. At the same time, he has great boundaries, doesn’t get over-involved.  At first you might think he doesn’t care.      Au Contraire!

He cares that you find the things in you that you can draw upon to get out of your difficulty.  He is open, very accomplished, smart and a robust presence.  He is inspiring in that he believes anyone can get past anything they have in front of them. He is naturally this way and it is great to know him.

He never valued that part of him because it was natural, so when he brought me a problem last week, I got the chance to remind him about him. He paused for a moment because he didn’t think of those things about himself.  He was just being himself.

He laughed started thinking ideas. He moved forward just a little and was delighted to get “unstuck”!

What about you?

There is a powerful bit of magic in you or you wouldn’t have gotten this far.  What can I count on you to be, that will help you move forward?

Tell me.

What does “your” Brand Stand For?

Finding yourself felling unappreciated? Not understood in terms of all that you try to do for your business and people you care about? Do you find that you excessively feel like you give “FAR MORE” than you get?

Check your Brand Currency.

You are a living, breathing, walking, talking Brand. Every interaction you have causes a movement of Brand Currency. Your Brand Value, goes up, stays the same or goes down.

If you don’t decide what your Brand stands for and check it to make sure it is worthwhile and effective – then you let everyone else decide it for you.

My Brand is about several things: I want to be known as a Brand that contributes and all that it means. I want to be known as someone who asks interesting and worthwhile questions. I want to be known as energetic, optimistic, pragmatic, thoughtful, thorough, articulate and as someone who loves what they do. Above all, my Brand is to Have Fun , Make a Difference, Make Money and Enjoy the people I do those things with.

It is also my personal Mantra.

So answer these questions for yourself:

What do I stand for in regard to my work and chosen field?

What do I want others to count on me for, whenever we interact?

What contribution can I make that is unique to me and my nature?

Answer these questions and apply those answers to your calendar for the next two weeks.

Should I trust you?

Relationships are the elements that really move Business forward.

Most people in business have limited time to be “social” in a work environment, yet social interactions is where Trust gets decided in very subtle ways.

This presents a dilemma because Relationships and building Trust are NOT efficient.  Business craves efficiency, yet without trust, nothing advances.

Should I trust you?  Perhaps…. But it has to be “appropriate” Trust.

For Example:

Rob is someone that I would never trust to perform Brain Surgery on me.  This would be a very misplaced trust. He doesn’t have the skills, so I shouldn’t look to him for filling that need if I have it.

I do trust him to be a resource that will help advance agreed goals (in this case with Business Growth Strategy and Social Marketing).

The “Social” side of our relating is where we collect experiences and evidence that support levels of trust. We trust people that give us a sense that we matter and our results matter. Also, healthy trust is when you both have something at risk.

It starts with each person being willing to present their real needs with clear consequences (both positive and negative).

The really interesting part is that every Relationship has many levels of trust that are palpable and measurable in terms of emotional comfort or confidence. Your sense of trust is your best friend.  Trust that feeling and act on it to learn more before making decisions.

Decide what you want to be trusted for.

The Real ROI of Social Media and Social Marketing

I am of the thinking that the toughest hurdle that Social Media and Social Marketing face is useful ways in which to demonstrate their value.

It seems to me that there are really two types of Social Marketing focus:

B2C
and
B2B

Each has its own dynamics and communication criteria as well as priorities.

So I pose a couple of questions:

1. For you, what are the differences in how Social Media is generated in B2B versus B2C?

2. How can you monitor and measure the ROI effectiveness of Social Media in  B2B versus B2C?

I personally think that it has to be done on more than one level.  It can’t simply be Top or Bottom Line Revenue.

The answer for number 1 (to me) is that the tone in B2B is going to be more professional and purposeful so that the interaction has a recognizable value to both people in conversation.  In B2C, there is a broader focus on the living of life and far less emphasis on the the Professional side of things, leaning much more Social.

For me, the 2nd question is accomplished by understanding Results from current Marketing and Company operating actions in either B2B or B2C.   Then to understand and highlight all the areas of activity that directly or indirectly connect to movement in total company results.

Some measures can include Customer interaction volume, numbers of prospect conversations, comparing conversion rates of Interest to Purchase as well as time units spent to accomplish them.

I think there are general measures that can be used across all companies, but have to be uniquely applied for each company based on all of the factors that “Systemically” represent Action and Results.

It is a “learned” process that can have the depth of detail to rival any Six Sigma effort.

Finally, the measure of ROI in Social Media or Social Marketing must be more than Money as currency.  This makes it more challenging, but also when mastered – a much more effective predictive indicator of real company health and performance in the market.

I look forward to your thoughts, agreements, difference and additions.

Who Is In Your Lifeboat?

One useful way to think about your life is that you are in a lifeboat in your journey through life. You will navigate the seas of Life and it is incredibly difficult and miserable (if not impossible) to do it alone.

On average, most Lifeboats seem to have room for between 2 and 7 people. These are the people whom you will help and will help you travel on the sea. They will pull oars, raise sails, navigate, handle the tiller, bail water, catch fish, be lookouts and more.

These are the people with whom you will share your Life’s Journey. Sometimes people pick their mates, others just travel with whoever shows up and sticks around. Neither is “better” than the other; each produces very different experiences.

I like to pick the people in my Lifeboat and I like to be selected by others with whom I want to share the journey. For me, they are people that have a high curiosity about life and what’s possible. They are action-oriented, they are responsible, they want to accomplish a great deal and enjoy the experiences of doing so, as well as the rewards for completion.

They have Values they seek to live by and always return to trying harder when they have a misstep. It matters to them that they seek to live in their full potential. It matters as a quest; not as a point of ridiculous perfection.

They stay real with themselves and others. They endeavor to contribute in whatever they do and they don’t run over people or allow themselves to be run over.

They “share” life with you. They don’t make themselves responsible for my responsibilities, yet they are sincere supporters that I will step up and handle things. They will help where it makes a difference and doesn’t take me prisoner. They will accept help in the same way.

They are optimistic and appropriately unrealistic. They seek to do greater and the impossible, but not at the expense of intelligent well-being and consideration of others.

They work to be conscious in every pull of the oar or draw of the lines. They show up, connect and express their passions with robust energy and aliveness.

These are the kinds of people I seek in my Lifeboat and they are the people whose Lifeboat’s I want to join; they are also the kinds of things I seek in myself.

Are you a person I should want in my Lifeboat? Am I the kind of person you want in yours?

Who else should be in your Lifeboat?  Why?

What You Can Do Now with Social Media in a Relationship Economy

We are now in The Relationship Economy.

The only real traction businesses are getting right now is directly tied to effective 2-way relationships.  Social Media allows you at will, to quickly learn how to interact directly with your Customers and Market.  There are two tracks for Business Social Media: Individual Professional Presence and Company based interaction.   Both matter, both are different strategies.  Getting and staying connected requires multiple mediums applied carefully.

The purpose of Social Media is to generate:  Interest, Following and Trust with the people you want to do business.  These are core traits of relationship.  This applies in your Business and your Career. You will want to Set Goals, Make a Plan and Measure Progress.

Market focus:  When you are a Customer, what do you want?   Many people consistently mentioned:  Access, Value and Ease.  These matter to your Customers and if you think about it, they matter to you.  When you talk with your customers, you are learning about them, what works and what doesn’t work, so recognize patterns from what you learn and you can accelerate your effectiveness.

With the Technology, the most important aspect is the Relationship focus.  Relationship literally means: the qualities and character through which you relate.  Those qualities are determined by what kind of relating you want to have with customers.  Qualities like easy, professional, responsive, interesting, useful, honest and real are examples that people report are present in trusted relationships.

The essentials: Select the resources where your customers are. Create presence on LinkedIn; make Facebook profiles for yourself and your company (separate Personal use from Professional use).  Blogging can make a huge difference because it allows you to get deeper into topics.  Video is the best short story around (it is 53x more viral than a tweet) . Participate in Social Communities where your customers currently interact. Build a following based on what you help people accomplish for themselves.

2011 is about getting and sustaining traction, and great Relationships lead to your Success!

Want to Improve your Biz? Stop Giving to Customers!

We often try to do a lot for customers, hoping that what we do is worthwhile to them. We give and give and give – and too often are frustrated or disappointed by their response (or lack thereof).

I want to propose a new model of doing business.  It is centered around Contributing versus Giving. The difference is huge.  The word Contribute has its source in Latin referencing the words “With Tribute” and Tribute is always to something bigger than any one of us as individuals.

If I ask you to buy raffle tickets for my cause, it may or may not be satisfying for you. However, if I ask you help me teach my daughter (selling girl scout cookies) what it is like to ask for what you want and sometimes get it and sometimes not, so that she will learn to not take “no” personally, then you are participating in her future well-being/education and it will be satisfying.  So the idea is to be aware of and connect with what “you” are paying tribute to with your effort.

The same is true for customers. I can carry your groceries to your car and that might give something of value to you.  But more useful is to find out how long before you get home so I can make sure your frozen things don’t thaw. THAT is Contributing to them.

How can you really Contribute to your Customer? This is the magic.