A Steve Jobs presentation has all the elements of a great theatrical production—a great script, heroes and villains, stage props, breathtaking visuals, and one moment that makes the price of admission well worth it. How does he do it?
In Never Fly Solo, Lt. Col. Rob “Waldo” Waldman, a former combat decorated fighter pilot, shares business critical concepts for success and delivers a very human message: we all have missiles in life to overcome and we can’t do it alone.
The first Web isn’t dead. But long live the Second Web.
How to avoid lying-flying “Stink-o-potamus” status.
The rules for marketing and PR have changed, and everyone, from marketing executives to business owners and entrepreneurs, needs to understand the new landscape if they want to stay relevant in today’s online world.
“The meeting is at 2 p.m. I’ll e-mail you a copy of the agenda, your personal agenda and the hidden agenda.”
Malcolm Gladwell discusses the problem of innovation in healthcare in this video from Ideaworks. Is healthcare innovation a conceptual or experiential issue? And how to frame the issues in language that can be clearly understood by the public?
How STORY principles can be used in business presentations.
For those of you that are, at this very moment, being slowed by Resistance, taunted by Resistance, need inspiration to fight Resistance, aspire one day to defeat the evil beast of Resistance, meet a very special person …
John Perkins has seen the signs of today’s economic meltdown before. The subprime mortgage fiascos, the banking industry collapse, the rising tide of unemployment, the shuttering of small businesses across the landscape are all too familiar symptoms of a far greater disease. In his former life as an economic hit man, he was on the front lines both as an observer and a perpetrator of events, once confined only to the third world, that have now sent the United States—and in fact the entire planet—spiraling toward disaster
Managers think and plan, workers work. In between is delegation, by which authority to perform tasks and consume corporate resources is granted. That’s how managers used to be taught in America, so there are probably still some contaminating effectiveness in many work places.
Making every dollar count in your channel management strategies has to be anchored in nothing but results, and there must be an intensity to achieve despite higher quotas and shrinking budgets. Looking at these constraints as a crucible and not a crutch pervades those companies getting to their channel selling goals.
I can’t tell you how many times I am approached by entrepreneurs who ask me, “Can I afford to do PR?” I always answer the same way: “You can’t afford NOT to do PR.”
I’ve had the good fortune to interview and work with many great storytellers over the last few years. Someone asked me what the most important lessons I’d learned from the high-profile “working” writers and storytellers … the ones who actually make a living doing it. What follows is a 3-part series of lessons learned from some of the most exceptional writers and storytellers of our time.
Software and Hamburgers don’t seem to have much in common, but when you look at the history of fast food chains McDonald’s and Wendy’s it becomes easier to see parallels between the two.
A while back I wrote an article titled “The End of Marketing and PR.” The article reviewed a lot of the new media applications, platforms and networks that can help you connect with customers. Things like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Animoto, StumbleUpon, SlideRocket, widgets, blidgets and a bunch of other whatchamacallit-idgets. But they all require [...]
When I was younger, I was a widely known movie star. My heartless character was well-documented. I have proof, recorded during my youth, to defend myself against the “Having a Big Heart” charge.
The economy. Gas prices. Housing. Credit crisis. Healthcare. Education. War. Terrorism. Yes. We face significant problems. Can the problems we face be solved by the same minds that created them?
Authority is the tool of Neanderthal managers. The people-side of enterprise is where the gold is buried. Then why are all the people-managing/-motivating-manipulating models so complex and so often rooted in psycho-babble?
EDITORS NOTE: This is a story only the inimitable Lou Washington, Master of MIPS, and the Wyatt ERP of Cincom Manufacturing Business Solutions could string together and eventually make sense. Hold on.
LEAN BUSINESS PRINCIPLES … AND MAD MAGAZINE
How can “Lean” principles help you not only survive … but thrive in these turbulent times? And [...]
The myth of being able to grow a product, division or entire company without first enriching others is gone. The truth is that only by overbalancing the scales of service to channel partners including distributors, dealers and resellers can a company hope to keep growing.
Sure you know Bruce Lee the martial artist and movie star. But do you know Bruce Lee the philosopher, comedian or master of personal development?
It’s not often you can mix Batman, Aliens and Terminators in a business case study article. And it be completely true.
How to create triggers that will get millions of people to spread your ideas, share your stories and genuinely want to do business with you. By David Meerman Scott and Steve Kayser
How a famous poet can teach us that being a truly accomplished writer means knowing when to turn a beautiful phrase and when to speak plainly.
What are the most important characteristics?
The six warning signs of impending leadership failure.
In my training program and coaching work on Dealing With People You Can’t Stand, “Think-They-Know-It-All’s” often come up. If you ever find yourself dealing with a person who doesn’t know what they’re talking about, try this…
All great presentations have one thing in common. Do you know what it is? Here are 10 examples down through the ages. Can you see it? And … what about the Greatest Presentation of All-Time?
The absolute BIGGEST challenge that entrepreneurs, artists, authors and other creative geniuses that come to me for help is productivity. Some know they need help with time management techniques. Others are struggling but they haven’t discovered that poor time management is the source of their frustration.
By asking a few questions, I zero in on the [...]
The air conditioned briefing room felt as cold as ice as I waited for the arrival of my instructor. I was a bundle of nerves. One more ‘busted’ check ride would put me one flight away from washing out of Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT). My dream of becoming a fighter pilot hung by a thread …
Good stories fascinate us all. They always have. They always will. Basically, there are two types of stories: Truth Stories and True Stories. Sometimes truthfulness doesn’t matter. That’s right … but meaning always does.
When people say to me: ‘I want to go someplace, but I don’t know where; I want to do something, but not what I’m doing; I don’t know what I want to do, and if I sound confused, that’s part of my trouble’ …I tell them, “You have to …”
What does it mean to have ‘B.A.L.L.S’? Is that even a good thing … for a female?
Forget the lip-job to quality. Here are four ways to make quality a passion – and a reality. First step? Leave behind marketing exaggeration and make your product’s quality real.
How to identify the cast of culprits that threaten productive meetings.
No industry has suffered from this current recession more than U.S. manufacturing. But before jobs come back, manufacturers are predicted to first invest in infrastructure and technology to grow their business profit.
In 1519, Hernan Cortés landed with a fleet of 12 ships near present day Veracruz, Mexico. The flotilla held 500 Spaniards, 300 natives, a dozen horses and a few cannons. Cortés’ aim was to conquer the Aztec Empire and take possession of its great wealth. The legend is that before launching the attack, Cortés burned his ships to prevent his men from retreating.
Do you know the one skill that’s considered to be an absolute “must have” in the complex sale? To win at the complex sale, one must be a storyteller, master tactician, strategist, cajoler, evaluator, philosopher, psychologist, bean counter and techno-geek. All rolled into one. But, even with all of that, there is one skill that is an absolute “must have” in the complex sale.
How Does Your Organization Stack Up?
The “State of the Business Presentation” today is pretty lame. Want to get adventurous?
We all have stories about new customers who have “fallen into our lap” and bought quickly. But …
What do you do when faced with a potential customer who is relentlessly insisting on a discount?
We’ve all had them. We’ve all met them. Dumb bureaucrats and insufferable bosses. But how to deal with them? Here are three time-proven leadership lessons not to take for “Grant-ed.”
Stretching before presenting an offer will hurt (sales, that is) and … it’ll kill cash flow. Here’s why …
An 80-page guide to the latest in New Media marketing tool and trends. Covers Customer Listening, Twitter, Microblogging, Blogging, Facebook, LinkedIn, Social Networking Environments, Video Sharing, Email, Social Media Optimization, Widgets and Gadgets, Photo, Slideshow and Media Sharing Environments …
Every key decision maker in business, regardless of their role, will face a technology decision at least once in their professional career. The goal is to ensure that the professional is best equipped with the knowledge and insight to make the best decision around IT implementation. A key consideration for any technology solution revolves around …
One team had a “superstar” that was an excellent player. The rest of the team was average or below, or at least as far as I could tell as a spectator. The star player was everywhere, from one end of the field to the other and sideline to sideline. She did everything and her coach encouraged it. Several times I heard him actually say “take it yourself.” But she never scored.
Can a sales organization be too focused on accountability? Here are some examples of sales accountability run amuck and its unintended negative consequences. See if your organization suffers any of these symptoms.
