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I ventured back to Toledo last week for a few speeches… First I worked with WEN of Toledo (Women’s Entrepreneurial Network). It was excellent. There were a lot more men than I expected! I gave away a few free books to my “homeboys,” aka “The MEN of WEN,” who clearly stood out from the crowd! When people walked into the break out session room, I collected business cards for…

He might be a jerk… He might be a lazy, unmotivated cheater… He might instigate fights with all the people from accounting… He might screw around and get into trouble a lot… …but deep down, he’s a really good guy. Right. Let me tell you something: deep down doesn’t matter. People only give you credit for that which they SEE you do consistently. Think about it: if someone says,…

Being a 26 year old professional speaker sucks. Actually, not really. I love my job. You couldn’t pay me NOT to do it. But picture this: you’re about to walk on stage to address hundreds – sometimes thousands – of seasoned business professionals who are twice your age, have three times your knowledge and four times your experience. Every one of them watches you with skeptical eyes and crossed…

A is for ATTITUDE B is for BREAK PATTERNS C is for CONSISTENCY D is for DISCIPLINE E is for EVOLUTION F is for FRIENDLINESS G is for GOOD WITH NAMES H is for HAPPINESS I is for IDEAS J is for JOY 1. You HAVE to write all of your ideas down on paper. Get a notebook, a journal, a jotter, a dry erase, whatever. Write it on…

You can’t deny it: word of mouth works. And the most fascinating about WOM are the little stories, encounters and contexts in which it is spread. Me, I monitor my company’s word of mouth in a WOM journal. (I suggest you do the same with your company.) Anyway, the WOM Gods have been good to me this year, so here are 11 recent encounters that have boosted sales, increased…

Last week I spoke to the Greater St. Louis Dental Society. My session was filled with primarily hygienists, receptionists and chair-side assistants. We explored something I call The OING Model. OING represents four types of encounters between employees and patients, each of which is an opportunity to inject (no pun intended) a little more of your personality into each encounter. About 160 people filled out index cards with potential…

Before today’s post gets under way, I just wanted to give a quick shout to all of the haters who posted their uplifting comments (anonymously, of course) on Friday’s post. I’ve been sick lately, so that really cheered me up! Thanks guys! Anyhoo… The first job I had out of college was a bartender. It wasn’t exactly my number one career choice, but I needed money (fast!) to pay…

My first job out of college was at a discount furniture warehouse. I hated it. Every day was a perfect combination of boredom, back pain and complaints from frustrated customers. The store was hot in the summer and cold in the winter. Most of my coworkers with were twice my age and my boss was a grumpy old jerk. Fortunately, the pay sucked and there were no benefits. Nevertheless,…

I gave a speech to the DC chapter of ISES last night at a club called Love. Coolest place I’ve ever seen in my life. The bartender, Preston, told me that on Friday of this week, Ludacris will be performing on the same stage I took last night. Wow! I can see it now: halfway through his show, Ludacris will say, “Yo, I just wanna thank Club Love for…

I was recently interviewed by a very cool new website, Youth Wealth Weekly. Founder Josiah Mackenzie offers young entrepreneurs free newsletters filled with fascinating stories, helpful tips, private interviews, inspirational quotes, book reviews, and more. You can read my interview here, or just scroll down. I pasted the text for ya: How did you make the transition from a “dude who wears a name tag” to a successful speaking…