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Four Strategies to Elevate Your Visibility Inside (and Outside) of Your Company
Business sucks. Layoffs are abounding. Job stability is wavering. Will you panic or prosper? If you want to accomplish the latter, remember this three-word philosophy: Anonymity is bankruptcy. In this article, we’re going to explore four strategies for elevating your visibility inside (and outside) of your company. FIRST: Elevating Internal Visibility When executed consistently, these practices will capture the attention of your managers and superiors, thus contributing to a…
22 Ways to be a Great Date for Your Readers
The best piece of writing advice I ever got came from the late, great Kurt Vonnegut: “If you want to be a great writer, be a great date for your reader.” Of course! After all, think about the characteristics of an ideal date: Fun. Fun-ny. Engaging. Emotional. Interesting. Stimulating. Memorable. And if possible, includes Skyline Chili. These things HAVE to happen if you want to get the other person…
10 Ways to Leverage Your Most Overlooked Personal Branding Hotspot
Business cards. Collateral materials. Websites. Blogs. Brochures. Voicemails. Phone greetings. Email addresses. Email signatures. Job titles. Company names. Taglines. Slogans. Headshots. Blah, blah, blah. Any entrepreneur with a modest knowledge of marketing and branding uses all this stuff. But here’s something your MBA class won’t teach you. Here’s something you won’t read in most bestselling marketing books: The #1 most overlooked personal branding hotspot is YOUR LANGUAGE. Language is…
30 Ways to become the Most Interesting Person You Know
How much money is being boring costing you? ANSWER: Too much. Boring ideas lose. Boring people fade. Boring organizations fizzle. LESSON LEARNED: There is inverse relationship between how successful you are and how boring you are. Seth Godin talked about this at length in a recent podcast with Ductape John: “If the marketplace isn’t talking about you, there’s a reason,” Seth says. “If people aren’t discussing your products, your…
43 Unusual, Unorthodox and Unexpected Ways to Skyrocket Your Creativity
I’ve read 200+ books on creativity, many of which are, ironically, not very creative. But. Last week I finished an obscure, yet mind-blowing book called Playful Perception, by Herbert Leff. I don’t even remember where I heard about it. Either way, he suggests the following: “Expand your repertoire of awareness. Increase the choice about the quality of your inner experience, and it will improve the flavor and value OF…
9 Ways to Make People Feel Essential
Yes, making someone feel “important” and “valued” and “needed” is a HUGE part of being an approachable leader. But that’s not enough. If you truly want to win with people, you need to make them feel essential. Here’s a list of nine practices for doing so: 1. Three simple words. “I appreciate you.” Not, “I appreciate that…” and not “I appreciate what you’ve…” No. “I appreciate YOU.” Small change,…
Are you answering questions or questioning answers?
It’s not about the answer. Answers are overrated. Questions are more important than answers because of the PROCESS they initiate. For example: 1. It’s about POINTING to a variety of solutions. There’s usually more than one answer. And limiting yourself to a sole-solution is a dangerous barrier to creative thinking and effective problem solving. How many right answers are you willing to accept? 2. It’s about STIMULATING thinking. You…
17 Ways to Out-Create Your Competition
1. Are you allowing yourself to create? It begins with permission. Returning to your childhood. As my friends Kim & Jason say, “Escape Adulthood!” Be a kid. 2. Are you creating from the soul or from what the marketplace wants? One of them makes you money; the other makes you happy. Take your pick. Don’t prostitute art. 3. Are you letting anybody murder your creative nature? Don’t. Tell those…
6 Ways to Use Your Blog to Close More Sales
One of the great leverage questions you could EVER ask yourself is, “Now that I have this, what else does this make possible?” That’s how you kill two stones with one bird, as my mantra says. And the cool part is, when you plug your blog into that equation, the creative sales possibilities are endless. SO, HERE’S THE SECRET: Your blog is non-threatening, not salesy, value-driven tool that you…
6 Ways to Monopolize the Listening
My doctor, the great Steve Edmundowicz,, once told me, “If I listen to my patients, they give me their diagnosis. If I listen to my patients long enough, they give themselves their cure.” LESSON LEARNED: Monopolize the listening. That means patience. Breathing. Relaxing. Affirming. Acknowledging. Questioning. “Loving someone with your ears,” as I officially define listening. So, whoever you are, whatever your role is, whenever you’re listening and whomever…
