The answer to this question seems clear. Of course you would change. The thought that obstacles would not occur in life or business is an unreal idea. Ask yourself, “can I handle obstacles?” Again we go back to, “what would you do if you knew your couldn’t fail.” Lina Sanchez talks about it in her article in the Gwennett Network. We have no choice in life but to handle obstacles; even if we “don’t handle them” we’re handling them!

Companies often wait too long to change. As Eastman Kodak files for bankruptcy, the 131 year old company, with a great formula but one that couldn’t change quick enough. Who can forget the Kodak name, the leader of inexpensive cameras? What we don’t know about Kodak is that the company’s own researchers had invented the first digital camera way back in 1976. This put Kodak in a position where they could have dominated the industry and owning every category of cameras, printers, inks and more. Unfortunately it never happened. It’s been said that the Kodak leaders couldn’t imagine a world where pictures weren’t shot on film. This company had the technology but not the vision on how to use it. Kodak believed in saving family memories by capturing them on film–they were way ahead of the social media revolution. (If you’ve not seen this video on the social media revolution this will be an eye opener!)

Nokia is another company that failed to act despite the fact that they had created a formula for a tablet-shaped handset. They just couldn’t execute the plan. (The Harvard Business Review, November 2011 has many great articles on companies that couldn’t change.)

Being a leader means understanding when things change in the environment, such as in our present economy the business has to change . Unfortunately making changes in one’s business because of environmental changes is very reactive and good leadership should be proactive not reactive. As we see, some companies such as Neihaus Companies (which I featured in my last blog) are flourishing in this economy, why, because they have a plan and have stuck to it. Having a plan doesn’t mean you can’t be flexible in fact being flexible and giving yourself “wiggle room” should be part of your plan.

Here are 5 ways that you can help your business and your life be proactive.

1. Don’t wait for things to happen. Build your business on sound principles, and prepare today for the future. If you’re planning for an eventual new roof, prepare for changes in the economy and that your ideas may need to be replaced. This leads to changes in your differentiation and reviewing your competitive advantage. (Your customers can help you with this.)

2. Stop running in crises mode. If you are constantly reacting, stop and look at what you’re not seeing. Why would you let yourself get in this position? Being in constant crisis mode causes stress which can eventually lead to a serious disease for you and your business. Remember if you’re losing money you can’t make it up in volume.

3. I know this is old stuff but start goal setting and goal planning and hold yourself accountable. This should be done yearly not every 10 years.

4. Include your major customers in your goal setting. Have someone interview them to find out their business challenges. How can you plan for your business without information from your customers? How can you upgrade your customer service unless you know what your customers want? I have done this with dozens of companies that are sure they know what their customers want and after the survey are amazed at what they don’t know. Learning from your customers will help your business stay ahead of your competitors.

5. Prepare for changes in the world. Globalization has changed how companies do business, what type of business they will do and where they will do business.

When I write these type of posts I begin to think about my own life–did I plan for the roof?

Sorry about Eastman Kodak; they will be missed.

Lisbeth Calandrino
Fabulous Floors
Associate Publisher &
Director of Consumer Research
lcalandrino@nycap.rr.com

“Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters.” – Albert Einstein

It’s tempting to tell a little white lie.

We’ve all done it at some point. Fudged on our SAT scores, the salary of your latest job offer or the time you got up last Saturday.

This week, a successful client of mine, told me that what differentiates his team from the competition is that they are brutally truthful in all matters, even when it leads to a major financial setback.

Your life is built upon a foundation of fundamental values. One of these is honesty.

How solid is your foundation?

C.J. McClanahan
Reachmore Strategies
317-576-8492
cjm@goreachmore.com

“One of the reasons that people can’t find four leaf clovers is that they are too busy looking at all of the three leaf clovers” – Marjorie.

Over the last several years I have been having fun taking pictures of four leaf clovers when I find them and posting them on my Facebook page. It’s exciting for me when I do find them because I was one of those people who couldn’t find one if it was staring me in the face. To add to the pressure, my Mom is a four leaf clover aficionado and finds them all of the time. It was not until my good friend, Dr. Sue Morter, taught me to slow down … just sit down, actually and “be the clover” that they began to show up everywhere. (My first ever five leaf clover is pictured above)

Dr. Sue Morter, my four leaf clover teacher and owner of Morter Institute & Health Center in Indianapolis, wrote a beautiful blog about the experience that opened her up to SEE-ing and listening within. Take some time to “just sit down”, read on and learn. You’ll be glad you did.

”There is a purpose for every event that occurs in our lives: Service. Everything that occurs serves as an opportunity for us to come to know ourselves more fully as an empowered co-creator of our experience. No exceptions.

In the first three months after my mother Marjorie’s passing, I found 69 four leaf clovers. This was not because I was particularly gifted in any way, but rather because I simply slowed down enough to see them. And when I did see them, sometimes three or four at a time, a deep and overwhelming sense of joy slipped in between the crushing grief and reminded me that there was more to the moment than the obvious.

So what was different? I sat down. I stopped from a pace of running a private practice, managing a staff, traveling to all corners of the country and abroad teaching professional seminars, being one of her primary care takers on the weekends and catching a flight back home in order to return to work and begin again on Monday. I stopped with the notion of everything having to get ‘done’. I just sat down. I ‘had’ to.

In that sitting down, in the despair of what felt like losing such a beautiful and rare relationship, my mind stopped and it felt as though all that remained was my breath. Literally all I could focus on was my breathing. Everything else fell away. And something shifted in me. I felt an actual physical, shift. Something let go, and something else ignited. A feeling — (rather than a philosophy) that it really was OK to fully accept my state, trust it, take action from that space or take no action at all, and let go of the outcome — was born.

“One of the reasons that people can’t find four leaf clovers is that they are too busy looking at all of the three leaf clovers”, a favorite quote of mine, offered by Marjorie.

Part of the reason that we have a hard time getting to what we want is that we are so indoctrinated into what we ‘don’t want’. But by allowing ourselves to sit down enough to listen within, our perfect path can be known. My business/speaking opportunities and revenues doubled in the year following my ‘sitting down.’ And the results I see in private practice are like I have never seen before.

The Mind/Body/Spirit connection is a very real thing. The body responds to our thought forms and beliefs. We can proactively program the body to respond in a healing manner. Shifts occur when we are ready to say yes to something different. Healing happens in the body when it is allowed to. We have choice. In fact, our highest purpose in this life is to come to know ourselves fully as the powerful creators of our experience that we are. And most importantly: four leaf clovers are everywhere, waiting to be found. Just sit down.”
Dr. Sue Morter

Deseri Garcia
Vida Aventura
317-362-4898
www.vidaaventura.net

When you introduce a new baby into the family, you are immediately flooded by a handful of companies wanting to get you to ‘try’ and to continue using their products.

When Cecelia was born, we got hammered with coupons, samples of pedialyte and similac, as well as baby nutrition books from a number of other companies. Gerber is the only company that has continued marketing to us, and therefore, they are the winner! Well, they also win because their marketing pieces have ROCKED!

I got a great piece of direct mail a while back (PS – I thought direct mail was dead, but not when it’s part of an integrated online/offline drip campaign), that included coupons, ‘tear-away’ information cards, and connections to Gerber’s website, mobile app, Facebook page, and call center.

The most impressive part of receiving this ad was that not only was it timed perfectly to Cecelia’s age, its content answered a lot of the nagging questions I had in my head about how to feed my baby.

If you would like to design a direct mail piece that is as impactful as Gerber’s, use the following conventions:

1. Set up a drip campaign that follows your customers natural progress through the buying cycle or path-to-closure

2. Include a direct response “ask” so you can track the effectiveness of the campaign and compute your ROI (ex. coupons)

3. Make sure that your piece is content rich, and answers the primary questions that your clients have at each stage of the buying cycle.

4. Use a portion of the ad to move your clients up your permission marketing stream by including reasons for them to opt-in to your social network, blog, or e-newsletter.

5. Don’t overwhelm them. Time your marketing pieces so that they become an eagerly anticipated part of your prospects trip to the mailbox.

Please share some ways that you have implemented a similar strategy for your business.

Jamar Cobb-Dennard
jamar@jamarspeaks.com