Inspired by an Expert

January 31, 2012 by 2 Comments

As you know last week I talked about having writers block. I am thankful for all the comments and DM’s I got about the subject and how to get past it. Then, over the weekend I was looking through my Twitter stream and came across a great article on the blog of one of my blogging heroes. (Mark Schaefer)

As I read his article “Improve your blog. Stop writing for an audience!” I realized that I had been inspired by an expert. Someone, in this case, who was writing with passion as his principle purpose. The reason that I find this exciting is that much of what I have read by the experts these days have just been a rehash of the basic things that I learned early on in my time as a blogger. And, following their advice (writing for my audience) was partly the reason for my writers block.

Now, its one thing to say that you have been inspired by an expert and quite another to take the advice that is given and make things better from it. If you are going to move forward with this kind of inspiration you need to:

  1. Look for experts who connect with your way of thinking. This does not mean find experts that you always agree with or who always say what you want to hear. It does mean to look for experts who teach, inspire, and challenge you to think and grow in your business and personal life.
  2. Look for experts who don’t just push out the “same old stuff” but rather push the envelope in order to teach you better ways of looking at things you both need and want to get done.
  3. Look for experts who don’t try to spend time tell you how expert they are. If you connect with them and their information and advice is really inspirational, you will know they are experts even without them saying so!

When I first started blogging, I tried to read everything from everyone. These days I just read a handful. My advice, find a few experts who write because of their passion and let them inspire you!

What experts have inspired you? How has their advice made you better at what you do?

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Filed Under: Designing Success, Internet Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

A New Business Model

January 28, 2012 by Leave a Comment

I have been doing a lot of reading lately and considering the things I have read very carefully. As I have read, my mind has been drawn to two ideas that seem to dominate the conversation today around the concepts of money, life, and freedom.

The two ideas that have pressed my thinking so are:

A 1914 half-sovereign minted in Sydney

Image via Wikipedia

  1. Money (and the pursuit of it) is the most important thing in life.
  2. Money, for the most part, is a necessary evil and anyone who wants it in excessive amounts is clearly evil as well. (Hence the “99 percenters”.)

For me, an unabashed capitalist, I find both views quite disturbing, reckless, and potentially dangerous.

Those whose lives represents the first idea seem to become heartless and cold, only considering the value of a thing in terms of monetary gain. Those whose lives represent the second idea seem to feel that they alone have an understanding of how much is enough and how everyone should think in regard to money, wealth, and possessions.

As for my thoughts, I think that real freedom affords everyone the opportunity to reach whatever height of success they define and are willing to work for. I think that great care must be given in the gaining of that wealth so as to not impinge on the rights of others or to do irreparable damage to the planet that we all must share. I also think that the fortunate should consider the less fortunate around us and offer opportunities for those less fortunate to make better use of the opportunities presented them. I do not feel that, except in cases of greatest need, that the government should mandate or manage this kind effort.

What to do …. what to do? Now, that is the trillion dollar question isn’t it! My personal answer is to develop a whole new business model. One in which I am able to secure a reasonable living for my family (reasonable to be defined my me) and then to work for the benefit of society with what ever else comes my way. This model is not really new, it has just been lost under the rubble of generations of greed and self-orientation.

This new business model would again spark the invention and innovation that made this country great. It would also allow American to live up to the concept that “America is great because America is good”

. Isn’t it time we take a hard look and make ourselves consider what is really happening. Isn’t it time we stop trying to “divide and conquer” and instead try to “unite and prosper!”

As the owner of The Doulos Group, I can only commit myself and my company to the fight. Will you join in? Will you establish a business model that provides both for the benefit of your families and for the community at large? Will you make an effort to look outside the box you have built for yourself and reach out to help those still struggling?

If you will, let’s join together and spark an adoption of this new business model throughout our local business communities!

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Filed Under: Designing Success, Small Business Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Writer’s Block and Thursday Thoughts

January 26, 2012 by 2 Comments


I am having a “writer’s block” kinda week. I have written two posts, but after I read them, I thought that probably several hundred other bloggers have probably written the same thing this week so why should I just clutter the blogosphere with more of the same?

Maybe I’ve just got a bad attitude this week!

So, here I sit on Thursday morning with just a few thoughts that I would like to pass on:

  • Every blogger, writer, entrepreneur, and business owner goes through times like these. Just keep your eyes, ears, and heart open and the ideas/words will return.
  • Writing nothing is often of greater value than writing something that is either copycat or is just something to get a post up. If a post doesn’t reflect you and you concern for your clients, don’t post it!
  • Remember the passion that caused you to write in the first place. Too many times writer’s block is the result of a perceived responsibility born not of passion but of sense of duty. Your clients and potential customers would rather see your passion than your duty!

Owning a business and writing to benefit your clients is a tough job. When the ideas dry up for a time, don’t make things worse by trying to fill your space with fluff. Your clients will better respond to the best of your thinking a little less often spoken than just more noise!

How do you get beyond writer’s block? What ideas can you share with the rest of us?

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Filed Under: Small Business, Social Media Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Three Key Pieces to the Business Success Puzzle

January 20, 2012 by 5 Comments
Colored-Soma-cube-pieces

Image via Wikipedia

I meet people on a regular basis who have incredible ideas that they think could become multimillion dollar businesses. In many cases they are right. However, even in those cases where their ideas could indeed create strong and secure businesses, either their amazing idea dies on the vine, unpicked and wasted or they try to pick the grapes at the wrong time and/or they handle them badly and they are spoiled after being picked.

For a business to start right and grow steadily every potential entrepreneur needs to understand the three key pieces to the business success puzzle:

  1. Every potential entrepreneur must discover what they want to do, the price they are willing to pay, and how starting a business will effect the whole of their lives. This time of discovery usually takes longer than the entrepreneur wants to take, but that is why most entrepreneurs fail in the early years of their start-up.
  2. Every potential entrepreneur must take the time to design a solid foundation so that your business will meet both your financial and life goals. I think that it is sad to see really good people who end up building their lives around their businesses rather than building their businesses around their lives.
  3. Every potential entrepreneurs must deliver their new product or service to a customer base developed through a solid marketing strategy that systematically and  consistently creates new business. New business owners think that their zeal for their product or service will create new sales and spend little or no time or resources developing a powerful marketing strategy.

These three keys (discovery, design, and delivery) are absolutely necessary for any business to succeed. If you are in the early stages of a business start-up or have found your young business stuck, consider where you are in relationship to these pieces to the success puzzle.

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Filed Under: Designing Success, Small Business Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Networking and the Growth of Business

January 17, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Small Business Summit 2011 Pre Event Photo 22

Image by Grant Wickes via Flickr

I had an opportunity to sit with a couple young entrepreneurs this morning. In spending this time with them, I was reminded about the idea of networking and the growth of business. Without this time of networking I would not know about their business nor would I be able to refer them to my clients who might well need them.

While networking has always been a part of business success, it seems that in today’s business climate driven often by online marketing opportunities, that real networking has suffered. It’s easier to “shoot” someone an email or direct them to your Twitter account than to sit down for a cup of coffee. While these technologies have their place in every business, they should not and really cannot take the place of the face-to-face contact that is the essence of networking.

Networking is important because:

  • When I am looking into your face I can hear the sincerity of your words.
  • When I am looking into your face I can see the passion in your eyes.
  • When I am looking into your face I can tell your confidence that you display.
  • When I am looking into your face you can see the same things in me.

It is when we can gain the confidence in each other that only this kind of conversation brings, that we will readily refer each other and our businesses to our clients, family, and friends.

Every business should recognize the value of this kind of networking and realize how important it is to the growth of our businesses.

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Filed Under: Small Business Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

I Own a Small Business

January 14, 2012 by 2 Comments

I was talking with a friend the other day about people who are in sales in industries such as insurance, real estate, car sales, etc. These people, in most cases, are “independent contractors” and are responsible for the efforts, taxes, and benefits just like that of a “regular” business owner.

The issue is that, while these folks often know and understand what it means to sell in their unique industry, they have been given little or no training in how to own and operate a small business. They seem to feel that if they just keep selling, everything will work out and they will do OK!

As our conversation continued I began to think about my years in two of these industries (real estate and insurance) and just how little education I received in either about the operation of a small business. It was only after two years in real estate that I even thought to myself, “I own a small business!”

What a revelation!! My whole world was turned upside down at the thought. I then understood that I had to treat things differently than ever before. My outlook changed and my education began afresh. I had to know, not only the technical aspects of sales, but I really needed to understand the key essentials to business success.

As the circumstances of life led me away from the business of sales, I am still aware and concerned about those “independent contractors” who know the tasks of their industry but still struggle with the business strategies that are essential to build and maintain a successful business in their chosen industry.

If you find yourself in this place remember three things:

  1. You own a small business! Get the education/training you need to help you understand the essentials of business ownership.
  2. Long-term success comes by developing a strategy first and then implementing the tactics to make the strategy work.
  3. No one should want you to succeed more than you. If you are really in an industry that you enjoy, commit yourself to the development of a business in that your chosen industry rather than just hoping the sales will continue without a real plan.

Make sure that your battle cry is “I own a small business” rather than “I sell stuff.”

What have been your experiences with business ownership that might help someone in sales? How can we help salespeople learn to design success?

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Build Local First

January 12, 2012 by Leave a Comment


One of the most important things for a small business to understand (especially a technically savvy one) is that the most important client base these days is still the ones you can sit across of and look at them eye-to-eye.

In John Jantsch’s book Duct Tape Marketing (Affiliate Link), he says, “Creating customers offline will, in my opinion, always (okay, for the next few years, anyway) be the most profitable way for a small business to build long-term, high-profit revenue.” But, because John understands the value of technology he also adds, “But those revenues will never appear if you don’t master the online information space first.” (p. 7, Duct Tape Marketing, Revised and Updated)

So, what a new business must need to do is to use the technology available to them but not necessarily to build their client base. Instead the use of this technology is best used to provide their local clients with the educational content that allows them to stand apart in the competitive crowd.

As a new business adds new customers/clients through personal, face-to-face efforts of its owners and employees and then provides those new customers with a continued flow of new and valuable content via technology, success is inevitable!

Technology is great and every business that is going to be successful in this current economic climate will need to master it, but start-ups and small businesses need to build local first!

How are you using technology, the internet, and social media to build a local client base?

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Filed Under: Designing Success, Local Business Success Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

The Trap of the Internet and Social Media

January 9, 2012 by 5 Comments


Starting a new business in the current business environment is as exciting as at any time in history. With the ability to be “seen” not only in your local market but also in every market around the world via the internet and the use of social media is just incredible.

Yet, with such powerful tools available, new businesses can also fall victim to the trap of the internet and social media. What I mean by this is that new businesses can easily get mesmerized by the power and reach of both the internet and social media and come to believe that if they are simply “out there” that success is guaranteed.

I remember having a conversation with a business owner who was in the second year of her business. She was a very savvy business woman who had used her internet and social media skills to launch her business a year prior to our conversation. What stunned her though was that now in her second year of business things weren’t going nearly as well and she was not getting the new business that had seemed to come so easily to her in the first year of business.

She recognized that her internet and social media efforts, which had been a large part of her first year success, were not bringing the same return as in the first year. As she considered her options, she began to reach out to her personal network and developed new products to make available to her local market. She continued with her online efforts as well, but learned that being online alone is not enough. You need to have a balanced approach to marketing that is strong both on as off line.

Don’t fall into the trap! The internet and social media can play a very powerful role in the success of your business, but for most businesses they cannot be your sole efforts.

What have you seen in your business? What other marketing efforts are you using to maximize your success model?

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Filed Under: Internet, Social Media Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Discover Your Business Design

January 5, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Photo c by Jeff Dean.

Image via Wikipedia/Photo by Jeff Dean

Ok, you have a dream for a business. It is the business you have always wanted to start and the one you are willing to dedicate your life to. Now what? How do you get from the dream to a fully functioning successful business?

One of the biggest mistakes made by entrepreneurs of all ages is to think that the dream alone is enough to make their business a success. Passion for a product or service is certainly essential, but it takes more. Once the dream is fully in place, you have to take the time to discover your business design.

Designing a business is very creative and yet also requires a great deal of “down and dirty” research. It is much like the blending of the architect’s vision for a structure with the engineer’s requirements for structural strength and safety. None of the wonderful designs of Frank Lloyd Wright would have made it off the drawing board unless there was a way to engineer his dreams into reality.

Three areas of research are critical to discover your business design:

  1. The mood of your potential clients/customers. Understanding what your clients need and want and knowing that you have a product/service to meet their wants and needs is critical in designing a successful business.
  2. The risk/reward ratio in starting your business. Too many times people begin a business with a great idea, but fail to consider what it will cost in time and resources before any profit can be seen. While the reward may seem to be attainable the price to attain it may be too high. Careful consideration of the risk/reward ratio is critical to a successful business venture.
  3. The definition of success as you interpret it. You must decide what success looks like for you. You must take this question seriously and find the definition that best suits you. Then you must build with that definition in mind an not be deterred by someone else and their differing definition. Set your standard, build your business to that standard and you are much more likely to be successful in both the short term as well as the long term.

Frank Lloyd Wright was a man of great vision, but he was also a man who understood that vision alone without blending his vision with the realities of engineering would never create the end product. He was willing to blend the dream with the reality of the moment to produce great success!

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The Doulos Group Launches

January 4, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Distant Starburst Galaxy

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Baby Boom Entrepreneurs is giving way as a blog to become a part of a broader blog representing the whole business design of The Doulos Group.

I hope all of you will find your way over to the new blog and that you find great value in the information that you find there. I am still very concerned with the direction this current economy is leading we boomers and I am going to do my best to make information available to you that will help you make sense of it all.

See you over at The Doulos Group!

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