A Gift, From You, To Your Business This Year

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Tis the season… What gift will you give your business this year? I asked some friends that on Twitter.com yesterday – following are some of the great responses:

  • @misscmac Give your business the gift of TIME – what you put into it is what you get out of it!!
  • @barefoot_exec gift to my biz would be effective exposure
  • @valeriesteinier I will give my company positive energy to make my time productive in giving a customer 100 percent satisfaction strategy.
  • @quietrevolution A list of all the ways I have mismanaged it, and my action plan to correct said mis-steps in the New Year
  • @boutiquegirl Ahh that is easy. A new organized office space!
  • @indiesmiles : New business cards, new graphics, new advertising campaign!
  • @blukentucky give your business a gift… yes.. time away from to refresh..gain an attitude
  • @SlowDownFAST How about the gift of self-reflection? Personal development for all parties.

…and my favorite:

  • @CreativeTutors give ur biz ur undivided presence – Thanks to Sheila Sifferman for that one.

What does it mean to give your business your undivided “presence”? A few quick thoughts off the top of my head:

  1. Balance – My undivided presence does not mean my undivided attention, time, or devoted mental and emotional energy. In fact, the only way my business can have my undivided presence is to gain some balance. Get a life, take time off, not to re-energize (that is recovery time, not time off), but to smell the roses, grow personally, and live out the values and passion that brought you into business in the first place. As my Irish friend, John Heenan has reminded me many times: (said with magical Irish accent) – “Give from your fruit, Chuck, not from your root.”
  2. ON vs. IN – My undivided presence means I spend time away from the daily grind, away from “production”, and devoted to strategic planning, review of the past, and preparing for the future. Joseph Kennedy tried to build a national construction company for years until he semi-retired and went fishing a few days a week. Very shortly after, his business went national because the time spent fishing got him far enough away from the “bark” to see the trees and the forest in his business. Give your business the gift of working ON your business, not just IN it. Regularly, weekly.
  3. Honest input from others – A friend of mine did a study on leadership and found the single most common factor among great leaders was the willingness to be transparent and submit themselves to peers who had the altitude to call “B/S” on them when they needed it. And conversely, those that failed insulated themselves from honest feedback. Give your business the gift of peers, a mentor, and a peer advisory group.
  4. Cover your weaknesses – We’re only good at a few things. Give your business the gift of involving others in your business who can do the things you aren’t good at. You can’t give your business your undivided presence if you are buried in the details.
  5. Know where you’re going – Have a business strategy (not a traditional business plan, they are nearly worthless) and invest every day in accomplishing the strategy. Give your business the gift of clarity of purpose.

The above is just a quick thought-stream prompted by Sheila’s gift of “presence”. I’ve likely missed some great ways you could give your business your undivided presence.

What gift would you give your business in the coming year, and how will it help you give your business your undivided presence in 2009?

The Single Most Important Question in Business

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…is the one we ask least often.

As responsible business owners, we invest a lot of time answering the “what” question. What will I sell? What should my price be? What kind of marketing should I do?

We find “how” intriguing as well – How will I find clients? How will I make ends meet this month? And we’re even okay with “who” (who is my ideal client) or “where” (where do I locate, advertise, network, etc.?).

All of these questions – who, what, where and how can be just plain fun to play around with. Why? (hint – this is a pretty important question) – Because they are largely theoretical questions. I can answer ALL of them brilliantly and do absolutely nothing – frozen in my tracks but feeling as if I’ve made great progress. But we’re really just playing office again. Merely doing complex (but easy) things that make us feel important and impress others.

The 2nd most important question in business (see last week’s post) is “when”. We avoid it like the plague because when we attach it to all the other questions (who, what, where, and how), we suddenly lose control of our future. Instead of managing our plans, we are now managed by our Plan, required to take action and move forward when we’d rather sit around thinking about it and just play office some more.

But the biggest, most important question in business is avoided even more then “when”. And it’s the most important question for determining our success.

Why?

On the most strategic level, if you don’t know why you’re in business, you’re going to fold when the going gets tough. And on the most tactical level, if you don’t know why you want to buy that snazzy new printer, you’re going to wonder why you can’t make money.

The “why” question should be attached to every other question you need to answer. What should I sell (why should I sell it)? How will I find clients (why do I want those clients)? Where should I locate (why is this a great place to be?)

And most importantly, “why” even needs to be attached to “when”. When do I want to be at 100 clients (why then and not later/earlier)? When do I want to have a fully mature business (why then and not later/earlier)?

When we ask why, we have a better chance of making decisions that are all aligned with our long-term plan (asking “why” makes us get a long term plan). When we avoid asking why, we make individual decisions in individual vacuums and wonder how we ended up right where we started at the beginning of the year. The result – a business going many directions at once and ultimately going nowhere.

Why gives us clarity of purpose.

If you won’t ask why, don’t bother with the other questions. They are all mechanical questions and don’t matter outside of “why”.

Why are you in business? Why do you do business they way you do? Why do you think it will take you 20 years to grow a mature business (why not 5)? Why do my customers buy from me? Why am I stuck at the same revenue as last year?

Why don’t you ask why more often?

Seth Godin wrote a book called The Dip in which he contends we quit when we shouldn’t and don’t when we should. If we asked why more often in business, Godin, wouldn’t have had a book to write. Answering why helps wake us up to stupid habits that aren’t helping us but just make us comfy (or impressive). And more importantly, answering why we’re in business gives us the motivation to push through the dips, to move from survival, through success, to significance.

Every time you ask a who, what, where or how question, ask “when”, then ask “why”. You’ll make more money in less time. Why do you think that might be true?

The 2nd Most Important Question in Business

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When?

“The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” Mark Twain

Jeanne, a friend of mine who owns a corporate training company told me how she got started. Or actually didn’t.

She had all the plans, the syllabus, the locations. She was building a network, too, but couldn’t figure out how to actually get business. Then she went to a conference for HR professionals (her target market) – about 100 people showed up.

The moderator started the day by asking if anyone had any workshops, seminars, or events to announce, and if so, would they like to pass around a sign-up sheet. Jeanne didn’t have anything planned at the time, but realizing this was her best shot to reach 100 people in her target market, she took a yellow pad, made up an event title, put a date on it, and passed it around.

One guy signed up. Jeanne was disappointed in three ways: 1) One guy signed up, and 2) now she was committed to an event that she hadn’t planned and wasn’t ready to execute, and 3) she would likely lose money on the event.

Even though the event was only four weeks out, she ended up getting 18 HR pros to come and it was a big success. After a few months of going nowhere in her business, she had made a big splash and was on her way. Why?

Because she decided to do something, and more importantly, she put a date on it.

And she couldn’t weasel out of the date because others knew about it and were depending on her to follow through.

It is amazing what happens to us when a) we decide to do something, b) we put a date on it, and c) we go public with the date.

Know anyone who has been engaged for years? That’s because they decided to get engaged, not get married. When they actually decide to get married, they’ll put a date on it, and both of them will be changed forever.

Planning an event or setting a Waypoint in our business won’t change us like setting a date to get married, but you get the point. It will change you. Try it.

Get started. Create a Waypoint for increased sales, for firing your job and going out on your own, or replacing an employee, or an event for potential clients. Then put a date on it. Then make sure enough people know about it that you can’t weasel out. It will create a sense of urgency that will change the way you do business.

And check your “goals” and next years “business plan” for dates. “1st Quarter” is not a date. “2009” is not a date. Put specific dates on every action you plan to take, and watch what happens. For some it’s even a good idea to put a time of day on it. Even if the day/time is months away, you will see the clock ticking in your head when you do this.

“When” shouldn’t be such an unusual question in business, but there’s no secret as to why we avoid it. It actually makes us change, and we don’t like change, even when we’ll make more money in less time by changing. So we “make decisions” that aren’t decisions to avoid actually succeeding.

A decision is not a decision until we put a date on it. Until then, we’re just playing office.

“The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” Mark Twain What are you stuck on? Put a date on it. Let other people know. It will change you and you will make more money in less time.

Next week we’ll hit the most important question in business.

Don’t Be a Mosquito in a Nudist Colony

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Why Lifetime Goals are so important to what I do tomorrow, and why tomorrow is so important to my Lifetime Goals.

The mosquito in the nudist colony is thinking, “I know what to do, I just don’t know where to begin.” As business owners, we might have a similar experience, either not knowing where to begin, or not knowing what to do next to take our business to maturity. We have so little time – prioritizing what to do next is critical to our success.

How do we know what to do next? Frankly, there is no way to know unless we have the end game clearly in mind. Without it, we’re shooting a gun in the woods and calling it bear hunting. Or my favorite – “he who aims at nothing hits it every time.”

How do we understand the importance of tying each day to our future? If we focus on just today, we claim victories that are only imposters. If we focus too much on the future, we get fogged or discouraged by the lack of measurable progress today.

The key – always keep today’s action plans and our future Ideal Situation in clear view at the same time, and continuously make the connection between the two.

Here’s the progession that clearly gives us that connection:

  1. Lifetime Goals – what are the things I want to do the rest of my life that I can never check off? This is why I’m alive and why I do business. I’m using my business to get me to my lifetime goals. If I don’t know my Lifetime Goals, I’ve got no clue why I’m in business. Get clarity on your Lifetime Goals – it is foundational to understanding how today matters.
  2. Ideal Situation – FYI – Retirement is a bankrupt idea. Don’t retire, just get into an Ideal Situation for living out your Lifetime Goals – it’s a lot more fun, meaningful, and purposeful. And you don’t have to wait until your 63. You can arrive at your Ideal Situation at 40 or much earlier if you’re intentional about it.

    Critical to escaping the Mosquito/Nudist Colony problem – WHEN do I want to be at that Ideal Situation? Pick an exact date and work toward it (he who aims at nothing…)

  3. Business Maturity Date – usually the same as your Ideal Situation. Pick it – work toward it.
  4. At maturity, what revenue does my business need to generate so I can buy my Ideal Situation in which I can best live out my Lifetime Goals?
  5. How much time and money do I need in my Ideal Situation? What kind of house, car, boat, plane will I need? Do I have a non-profit or am I working in one? Is travel important? What revenue does my business need to generate over the next 5 years to get me to my Ideal Situation? Over the next 3 years? Over the next year? Knowing this is a huge step toward knowing how today fits into the rest of my life.
  6. One-Page Business Strategy – what do I need to do the next 12 months to get closer to a mature business?
    1. Vision, Mission – the big picture for why I’m in business and what my mission is as a business person.
    2. Strategies – the ways in which I make money (building websites, developing ISP software, etc.) THREE YEARS
    3. Objectives – The measurable waypoints for the next 12 months, next 3 months, next month – 12 MONTHS
    4. Action Plans – The actual actions I need to take each week/month/quarter to get to the one year waypoint, on my way to developing a mature business, that can support my Ideal Situation, so I can focus on my Lifetime Goals. It all comes together here.

If we know our Lifetime Goals, those goals we can never check off, and most importantly, WHEN we want to be in our Ideal Situation for living out those lifetime goals, we can then back into what we need to be doing tomorrow to get there. If you don’t know what the end game looks like, what in the world are you doing in business in the first place?

Continuously connecting your daily activity and your Lifetime Goals is the key to clarity and to knowing if each day is counting. Don’t be a mosquito in a nudist colony. Know what to do, where to begin, and what to do next. Connect your daily activity to your Lifetime Goals and watch the fireworks begin.

Don’t Be a Mosquito in a Nudist Colony

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Why Lifetime Goals are so important to what I do tomorrow, and why tomorrowis so important to my Lifetime Goals.

The mosquito in the nudist colony is thinking, “I know what to do, I just don’t know where to begin.” As business owners, we might have a similar experience, either not knowing where to begin, or not knowing what to do next to take our business to maturity. We have so little time – prioritizing what to do next is critical to our success.

How do we know what to do next? Frankly, there is no way to know unless we have the end game clearly in mind. Without it, we’re shooting a gun in the woods and calling it bear hunting. Or my favorite – “he who aims at nothing hits it every time.”

How do we understand the importance of tying each day to our future? If we focus on just today, we claim victories that are only imposters. If we focus too much on the future, we get fogged or discouraged by the lack of measurable progress today.

The key – always keep today’s action plans and our future Ideal Situation in clear view at the same time, and continuously make the connection between the two.

Here’s the progession that clearly gives us that connection:

  1. Lifetime Goals – what are the things I want to do the rest of my life that I can never check off? This is why I’m alive and why I do business. I’m using my business to get me to my lifetime goals. If I don’t know my Lifetime Goals, I’ve got no clue why I’m in business. Get clarity on your Lifetime Goals – it is foundational to understanding how today matters.
  2. Ideal Situation – FYI – Retirement is a bankrupt idea. Don’t retire, just get into an Ideal Situation for living out your Lifetime Goals – it’s a lot more fun, meaningful, and purposeful. And you don’t have to wait until your 63. You can arrive at your Ideal Situation at 40 or much earlier if you’re intentional about it.

    Critical to escaping the Mosquito/Nudist Colony problem – WHEN do I want to be at that Ideal Situation? Pick an exact date and work toward it (he who aims at nothing…)

  3. Business Maturity Date – usually the same as your Ideal Situation. Pick it – work toward it.
  4. At maturity, what revenue does my business need to generate so I can buy my Ideal Situation in which I can best live out my Lifetime Goals?
  5. How much time and money do I need in my Ideal Situation? What kind of house, car, boat, plane will I need? Do I have a non-profit or am I working in one? Is travel important? What revenue does my business need to generate over the next 5 years to get me to my Ideal Situation? Over the next 3 years? Over the next year? Knowing this is a huge step toward knowing how today fits into the rest of my life.
  6. One-Page Business Strategy – what do I need to do the next 12 months to get closer to a mature business?
    1. Vision, Mission – the big picture for why I’m in business and what my mission is as a business person.
    2. Strategies – the ways in which I make money (building websites, developingISP software, etc.) THREE YEARS
    3. Objectives – The measurable waypoints for the next 12 months, next 3 months, next month – 12 MONTHS
    4. Action Plans – The actual actions I need to take each week/month/quarter to get to the one year waypoint, on my way to developing a mature business, that can support my Ideal Situation, so I can focus on my Lifetime Goals. It all comes together here.

If we know our Lifetime Goals, those goals we can never check off, and most importantly, WHEN we want to be in our Ideal Situation for living out those lifetime goals, we can then back into what we need to be doing tomorrow to get there. If you don’t know what the end game looks like, what in the world are you doing in business in the first place?

Continuously connecting your daily activity and your Lifetime Goals is the key to clarity and to knowing if each day is counting. Don’t be a mosquito in a nudist colony. Know what to do, where to begin, and what to do next. Connect your daily activity to your Lifetime Goals and watch the fireworks begin.

Why Social Networking (locally and digitally) Can Be a Bad Idea.

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148.7 – The maximum number of social relationships any average human being can handle, according to research by anthropologist Robin Dunbar (1998) and others.

73,395 – The maximum number of people following one person on Twitter.com (right now.)

Houston, we have a problem. Are we wasting our time with social networking?

As Craig Harrell of Rainmaker Marketing says, “A rubber-banded stack of business cards is not a sales strategy.” We have transferred the impulse to gather stacks of business cards from local networking events, to gathering stacks of “followers” on the internet. Without an intentional strategy, neither one will make us more money in less time. We can use our digital relationships to build business, but not the way we think.

We’ve been taught that the best way to grow our business is to go WIDE, when actually the best way is to go DEEP. The fact is that hundreds to thousands of tepid contacts (these aren’t relationships) online or at a networking event don’t hold a candle to one strategic alliance partner who will feed us business on an ongoing basis. Go deep, not wide.

Can you go deep and still have a wide digital set of “followers”. You bet.

It’s the difference between networking and building a network, the difference between collecting contacts and developing connections.

While 148.7 is the maximum number of social relationships we can have, almost none of us are taking advantage of this relational capacity to grow our business. If you have more than one or two alliance partners truly feeding you customers, you are in an elite group. And yet I’m convinced that the majority of businesses under $50 million a year can be built on one to two dozen truly committed strategic alliance partnerships.

It’s not easy to find a friend. You sift through hundreds if not thousands of people in your life over many years to come up with those few people you feel comfortable letting your hair down around. It’s no easier to find a strategic alliance partner, and we don’t have years in business to do it. That’s where a WIDE reach can lead to a few DEEP relationships that will increase the revenue in your business.

Having 73,395 followers on Twitter is, by itself, largely meaningless, but with a very powerful potential. As with the analog (physical) world, it is our own intentionality that determines whether anything will come out of this stack of contacts to make us more money in less time.

Which of these people are we truly connecting with? Which ones can I truly serve by connecting them to others or to resources to build their business? Zero in on those few relationships at a time and see where they take you. Then go back and dive into the pile of contacts and zero in on a few more. Keep doing this until you find those few people who you can rain on and who can rain on your business for years to come.

The other advantage of having 73,395 people following you is that this “tribal identity” of being on Twitter together gives you a built in WIDE audience that will likely always be a better channel for future clients than a shotgun advertising campaign. If you want to introduce a new product or service, there is no question this is the best place to start – with people who already have a passing familiarity with you.

Continue to develop a following. Get it as big as you can – it’s much better than stone cold advertising. But always be mining this growing group of followers to find the few that you can really serve, the ones you can send clients or customers to regularly. They will be able to do the same for you (hint – the best way to train them to help you is to help them first.)

The short story – Go deep, not just wide. Whether locally or digitally, stop networking and build a network instead. Stop making contacts, and develop connections. You’ll make more money in less time.

Why Social Networking (locally and digitally) Can Be a Bad Idea.

/in /by

148.7 – The maximum number of social relationships any average human being can handle, according to research by anthropologist Robin Dunbar (1998) and others.

73,395 – The maximum number of people following one person on Twitter.com (right now.)

Houston, we have a problem. Are we wasting our time with social networking?

As Craig Harrell of Rainmaker Marketing says, “A rubber-banded stack of business cards is not a sales strategy.” We have transferred the impulse to gather stacks of business cards from local networking events, to gathering stacks of “followers” on the internet. Without an intentional strategy, neither one will make us more money in less time. We can use our digital relationships to build business, but not the way we think.

We’ve been taught that the best way to grow our business is to go WIDE, when actually the best way is to go DEEP. The fact is that hundreds to thousands of tepid contacts (these aren’t relationships) online or at a networking event don’t hold a candle to one strategic alliance partner who will feed us business on an ongoing basis. Go deep, not wide.

Can you go deep and still have a wide digital set of “followers”. You bet.

It’s the difference between networking and building a network, the difference between collecting contacts and developing connections.

While 148.7 is the maximum number of social relationships we can have, almost none of us are taking advantage of this relational capacity to grow our business. If you have more than one or two alliance partners truly feeding you customers, you are in an elite group. And yet I’m convinced that the majority of businesses under $50 million a year can be built on one to two dozen truly committed strategic alliance partnerships.

It’s not easy to find a friend. You sift through hundreds if not thousands of people in your life over many years to come up with those few people you feel comfortable letting your hair down around. It’s no easier to find a strategic alliance partner, and we don’t have years in business to do it. That’s where aWIDE reach can lead to a few DEEP relationships that will increase the revenue in your business.

Having 73,395 followers on Twitter is, by itself, largely meaningless, but with a very powerful potential. As with the analog (physical) world, it is our own intentionality that determines whether anything will come out of this stack of contacts to make us more money in less time.

Which of these people are we truly connecting with? Which ones can I truly serve by connecting them to others or to resources to build their business? Zero in on those few relationships at a time and see where they take you. Then go back and dive into the pile of contacts and zero in on a few more. Keep doing this until you find those few people who you can rain on and who can rain on your business for years to come.

The other advantage of having 73,395 people following you is that this “tribal identity” of being on Twitter together gives you a built in WIDE audience that will likely always be a better channel for future clients than a shotgun advertising campaign. If you want to introduce a new product or service, there is no question this is the best place to start – with people who already have a passing familiarity with you.

Continue to develop a following. Get it as big as you can – it’s much better than stone cold advertising. But always be mining this growing group of followers to find the few that you can really serve, the ones you can send clients or customers to regularly. They will be able to do the same for you (hint – the best way to train them to help you is to help them first.)

The short story – Go deep, not just wide. Whether locally or digitally, stop networking and build a network instead. Stop making contacts, and develop connections. You’ll make more money in less time.

What a fighter pilot can teach us about increasing sales.

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In the gulf war, before an F15 pilot friend of mine went into a dogfight, he would turn off all but a couple of his heads up warning and information systems . Why? Because the “feature-rich” environment created so much information overload that it kept him from being focused on the two things he needed to focus on – shooting the other guy down and staying alive. What does that have to do with increasing sales?

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software, as with most software, suffers from the same “feature-rich” problem. And it actually has the opposite effect than intended – it actually keeps us from making more money.

The key to making more money in less time is not feature rich CRM software, but simplicity, intentionality, and speed of execution.

We actually think more is better, but our usage doesn’t gel with our thinking. Some say that 90% of MS Word buyers use only 10% of the features. I would guess the gap is even bigger. In CRM software, we over-pay for a feature rich environment that should be turned off so we can concentrate on the two things we should focus on – 1) moving people through the sales pipeline while 2) growing raving fans of our existing clients.

Why do we buy CRM software? Largely because our addiction to information, reports, and dizzying statistics makes us feel like we’re actually growing our business when we’re just being really organized. “I have a great database, I must be doing well in sales.” This is EFFICIENCY without EFFECTIVENESS.

What we really need to build our sales:

  1. Simplicity – a) who are we talking to, b) where are they in the buying process, and c) what is the next thing and date I need to do to move them forward? With exceptions, the rest of the features are just distractions to make us feel like we’re working when we’re really just playing office. Go talk to people.
  2. Intentionality – the key isn’t more info – it’s having a specific date for every action that moves the relationships forward – just get out and get it done on that date.
  3. Speed of Execution – stop looking at your spreadsheets/CRM and go talk to people. A robust CRM with tortured reports is not the basis for making more money. Speed of execution is the #1 indicator of success among successful sales people. Time kills deals.

I need something simple that will get me out of my office, off my computer, away from my database and in front of my clients and potential clients, developing referrals, and making more money in less time. A CRM that could do that would be worth buying. I haven’t found one yet.

I use a spreadsheet that tells me who I’m talking to, where they are in the process, and the next thing/date for moving them forward. Then I go do it. It isn’t very impressive, and I can’t print out graphs, charts, and complex reports. All it does is help me make more money in less time.

Do you have a simple pipeline management system that serves you and keeps you moving forward? (FYI – having no tracking system is even worse than having something that is too complex.) Turn off all the distracting features that aren’t focused directly on making more money, and get focused on speed of execution in doing the two-three things that will bring you more clients. Happy hunting!

What a fighter pilot can teach us about increasing sales

/in /by

In the gulf war, before an F15 pilot friend of mine went into a dogfight, he would turn off all but a couple of his heads up warning and information systems . Why? Because the “feature-rich” environment created so much information overload that it kept him from being focused on the two things he needed to focus on – shooting the other guy down and staying alive. What does that have to do with increasing sales?

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software, as with most software, suffers from the same “feature-rich” problem. And it actually has the opposite effect than intended – it actually keeps us from making more money.

The key to making more money in less time is not feature rich CRM software, butsimplicity, intentionality, and speed of execution.

We actually think more is better, but our usage doesn’t gel with our thinking. Some say that 90% of MS Word buyers use only 10% of the features. I would guess the gap is even bigger. In CRM software, we over-pay for a feature rich environment that should be turned off so we can concentrate on the two things we should focus on – 1) moving people through the sales pipeline while 2)growing raving fans of our existing clients.

Why do we buy CRM software? Largely because our addiction to information, reports, and dizzying statistics makes us feel like we’re actually growing our business when we’re just being really organized. “I have a great database, I must be doing well in sales.” This is EFFICIENCY without EFFECTIVENESS.

What we really need to build our sales:

  1. Simplicity – a) who are we talking to, b) where are they in the buying process, and c) what is the next thing and date I need to do to move them forward? With exceptions, the rest of the features are just distractions to make us feel like we’re working when we’re really just playing office. Go talk to people.
  2. Intentionality – the key isn’t more info – it’s having a specific date for every action that moves the relationships forward – just get out and get it done on that date.
  3. Speed of Execution – stop looking at your spreadsheets/CRM and go talk to people. A robust CRM with tortured reports is not the basis for making more money. Speed of execution is the #1 indicator of success among successful sales people. Time kills deals.

I need something simple that will get me out of my office, off my computer, away from my database and in front of my clients and potential clients, developing referrals, and making more money in less time. A CRM that could do that would be worth buying. I haven’t found one yet.

I use a spreadsheet that tells me who I’m talking to, where they are in the process, and the next thing/date for moving them forward. Then I go do it. It isn’t very impressive, and I can’t print out graphs, charts, and complex reports. All it does is help me make more money in less time.

Do you have a simple pipeline management system that serves you and keeps you moving forward? (FYI – having no tracking system is even worse than having something that is too complex.) Turn off all the distracting features that aren’t focused directly on making more money, and get focused on speed of execution in doing the two-three things that will bring you more clients. Happy hunting!

Ambient Awareness? Really? Do you buy from the “Ambiently Aware?”

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Do you buy from the Ambiently Aware? Are you Ambiently challenged? Can we stuff more syllables into a smaller space?

In the September 5th New York Times, there was an article called Brave New World of Digital Intimacy exploring how relationships have changed now that we’re sharing our lives on-line via LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and others. It didn’t take long for intellectuals to create fancy compartment labels for online business relationships.

According to the article, social scientists have named this ongoing, open, online contact as “ambient awareness.” They say it’s like picking up on somebody’s mood by being physically close and observing the little things they do; body language, shrugs, random thoughts.

The idea is that online relationships offer us a similar “close” relationship. People share simple, random, and “close” thoughts on Twitter that they would never call someone to share (“The sun looks warm today”, “The guy on the park bench looks angry”, I spent too much on lunch just now.”, “I’m a little bored.”)

Probably all true, but I get a kick out of the need for big business mavens to constantly create new opportunities to play buzzword bingo. “Ambient awareness”? – gag me with a spoon. Why do we feel a need to sterilize things like this?

I’m guessing it has something to do with the need to compartmentalize life and make it nice and tidy. But relationships are always more complex than this.

Online updates can:

  1. create credibility – What you say seems to make sense or resonate with the way I view the world around me. You are someone I might want to let rub off on me.
  2. attract the trust of others by serving them – meeting the needs of others by sending them to the right resources. One woman wanted an online credit card processing contact. I had five to give her w/ recommendations on how each might work for her.
  3. repel others by trying to sell them – nobody wants to be sold anything, we all want to buy. if we try to sell ourselves or our wares, people digitally run away.
  4. create an initial connection – hmmm…maybe there is more here to help both our businesses…let’s have a conversation.
  5. clarify there is no connection – people who are raging net workers – trying to contact everyone – make me run the other way. (Stop networking and build a network. Stop trying to build a list of contacts and start making meaningful connections with a few people.)

Online “talk” will do the same thing for us (or not) as any other kind of communication, depending on how we approach it. If we talk online, it should have the same objective as getting a cup of tea with someone; building a few meaningful relationships that will help each other grow their businesses.

Let’s not encourage the social scientists by adopting big business buzzwords like “ambient awareness”. People buy from people, and they buy more from people they like.

I’ve never bought anything from someone who was a master of “ambient awareness”. Talk to somebody (online or off) and build a relationship. You’ll make more money in less time that way.