I ran across these four great posts over the past couple weeks, mostly centered around social media and its implementation. Enjoy.
It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.
- Charles Darwin
Today’s guest post is courtesy of Nicole Rodgers. I come across a lot of prospective guest posts ideas due to some services I subscribe to, but Nicole’s title here intrigued me. Which made me think it would intrigue you. Keeping an eye on trends is muy important, and Nicole’s guidance here is extremely helpful.
The successful entrepreneur watches for trends that can be utilized and worked into the business. There are a number of different areas that many indicators are saying will have a great impact on the future of business. Getting in on the ground floor can help ensure the entrepreneur grabs a part of the trend as it pushes forward.
I’m always both baffled and entertained by sales calls I receive.
You have to wonder sometimes how these guys make any money. Blabber, blabber, blabber. Feature, feature, feature.
Boring, boring, boring.
What surprises me even more, though, is how much time a sales rep will invest in me even though I’m an extremely unqualified prospect. They’d rather spend an hour with me in what seems like a one-way conversation (monologue?) rather than spend 10 minutes making sure I’m worthy and prime for their product or service. (Which, ironically, makes them more attractive. But I digress ….)
I received a tweet from a friend lately that I feel captures what many of us deal with on a regular basis. In response to something I wrote on selling and marketing not being the same thing, my friend said this:
I keep trying to explain this to Dad. As a good salesman, he thinks being good at marketing means being good at sales. Sigh.
Yep, we marketers deal with confusion over what is what all the time. I know my mom typically calls it all “promotion.” Others use the term “marketing” when they’re actually talking about “selling.” Then too many others think “marketing” is essentially just “advertising.”
Sigh.
If there’s one thing the two weeks of holidays is good for, it’s catching up on your blog reading. Here are a few posts that really made me think:
Regardless of how much you try to resist it, you can’t help but get reflective this time of year. Sure, it might be driven by the idea of a new year giving us the proverbial clean slate to build from. Or it may be a state of shock emerging from the holi-daze wondering how you could possibly be this fat, this broke and this far off where you thought you’d end the year.
Take your pick.
But in the spirit of thinking 100% about me, I thought I’d look back on 2010 and see, on a professional level, what themes emerged that neatly wrap it up.
Input. Someone must’ve drilled me with a g
Yes, “Wade Phillips” can be a verb.
As in, “John was simply caught in a no-win situation, so I Wade Phillipsed him.”
Or …
“Even though Jane’s whole team is responsible for the project’s failure, I’m gonna have to Wade Phillips her just to make a statement.”
For those who don’t know, Wade Phillips was the coach of the Dallas Cowboys until this past Monday afternoon. And for those who don’t know, the Cowboys have much bigger problems than a bad head coach.
But perception is reality, and the simple fact is the Cowboys are sucking and the natives are restless. A sacrifice had to be offered, and it had to be Wade Phillips’ head on a platter.
Here’s the thing: to say this is long overdue is like saying BP took a little too long to fix the gulf oil spill. I confess, I’ve slacked off on wrapping up my Optimization Summit reviews from March. Most people would probably just have killed the idea at this point, but what I haven’t shared with you yet is simply too good not to get out there, regardless of timing. So, we’ll carry on, wayward sons.
Up next is Mack Collier’s presentation, Think Like a Rockstar. I had heard of Mack before, so I was looking forward to the presentation from the beginning. Mack packed his presentation with more case studies than most Lasik surgeons can throw at you at their “get to know us” seminars, and I loved ‘em. More than that, though, was that his rockstar analogy really sticks. It’s one of those analogies that doesn’t just clarify a topic; it illuminates it.
